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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 120 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  8. Where did you ________________ them?
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  22. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. shower — to wash
  3. wax — in the ear
  4. capital — money
  5. cap — of ice
  6. field — farmland
  7. cap — a lid
  8. mug — to rob
  9. chest — a box
  10. tear — from crying
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. mug — a face
  13. field — for sport
  14. mug — a cup
  15. tear — to rip
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. chest — of your body
  18. cap — a hat
  19. chest — of your body
  20. shower — rain
  21. wax — to grow
  22. wax — for sculpting
  23. capital — a city
  24. tear — from crying

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com