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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 116 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. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  11. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  12. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  19. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  20. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  23. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  24. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. field — farmland
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. trunk — of an elephant
  6. wind — moving air
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. wind — moving air
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. drill — army training
  11. wax — in the ear
  12. chair — a professorship
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. mine — for digging
  15. field — a subject
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. trunk — of a car
  18. drill — a practice
  19. wax — to grow
  20. trunk — of a tree
  21. field — for sport
  22. drill — the tool
  23. chair — a leader
  24. racket — a loud noise

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