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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. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  2. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  8. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  12. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  15. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  16. Did you ________________ the meat?
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. I can't ________________ this cold.
  24. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — in sport
  2. wax — to grow
  3. club — for golf
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. field — a subject
  7. club — a group
  8. stand — for spectators
  9. field — for sport
  10. spring — a coil
  11. club — for dancing
  12. wax — in the ear
  13. field — farmland
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. wax — for sculpting
  16. season — to add flavour
  17. game — wild animals
  18. game — a match
  19. season — of the year
  20. spring — of water
  21. stand — on your feet
  22. spring — the season
  23. stand — to bear
  24. pitcher — in baseball

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