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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. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  9. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  10. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  11. The King held a masked ________________.
  12. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  13. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. Have you met the new head ________________?
  18. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  19. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  22. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. ball — a round shape
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. coach — pulled by horses
  5. field — farmland
  6. field — a subject
  7. chair — a leader
  8. wax — in the ear
  9. rock — a stone
  10. bore — to tire
  11. ball — a dance
  12. rock — to move gently
  13. wax — to grow
  14. field — for sport
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. file — a document
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. rock — music
  19. ball — a great time
  20. file — a tool
  21. chair — a professorship
  22. bore — gave birth
  23. file — a line of people
  24. bore — to drill

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