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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. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  6. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  10. Have you settled on a ________________?
  11. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  12. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  15. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. This piece is in a major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. can — to be able to
  2. field — farmland
  3. wax — for sculpting
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. can — a tin
  6. wax — to grow
  7. cell — in biology
  8. field — a subject
  9. date — the fruit
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. date — on the calendar
  12. can — a tin
  13. band — a ring
  14. key — the most important part
  15. key — for a lock
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. net — after costs
  18. net — for catching
  19. band — a music group
  20. field — for sport
  21. cell — a phone
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. net — in sport
  24. key — in music

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