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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 124 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. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  5. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  6. The ________________ market has crashed.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  9. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  12. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  13. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  14. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. My father caught me by the ________________.
  17. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  18. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  19. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. land — a country
  3. field — a subject
  4. foot — a measure
  5. foot — the bottom
  6. stock — shares
  7. field — farmland
  8. fork — a garden tool
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. fork — to eat with
  12. arm — a part of something
  13. foot — part of the body
  14. stock — goods
  15. squash — to crush
  16. arm — part of the body
  17. wax — to grow
  18. squash — the sport
  19. wax — for sculpting
  20. land — to come down
  21. field — for sport
  22. fork — in a road
  23. land — ground
  24. squash — the vegetable

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