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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. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  12. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. I'll be taking the ________________.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  18. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  19. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  20. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  21. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  22. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. I seem to be developing a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. rash — hasty
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. wax — to grow
  6. row — a line
  7. scale — size or range
  8. ground — a position
  9. wax — for sculpting
  10. ground — the earth
  11. scale — for weighing
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. ground — crushed
  14. field — a subject
  15. tube — the underground
  16. field — farmland
  17. tube — in a tire
  18. racket — a loud noise
  19. tube — a container
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. rash — a series
  22. scale — in music
  23. row — to paddle
  24. rash — on the skin

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