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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. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  3. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  7. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  8. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  9. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  16. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. That was ________________ to happen.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. pitch — a sports field
  3. calf — a young animal
  4. field — a subject
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. wave — a sudden rise
  7. wax — for sculpting
  8. wave — with your hand
  9. bound — obliged
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. calf — of the leg
  12. field — for sport
  13. calf — a young animal
  14. cell — a phone
  15. pitch — a sales talk
  16. bound — tied together
  17. capital — money
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. field — farmland
  20. pitch — completely
  21. capital — a city
  22. wave — of the sea
  23. cell — in biology
  24. bound — certain

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