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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. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  5. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  6. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  7. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  8. Have you found your soul ________________?
  9. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  12. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  15. Did you ________________ the button?
  16. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  19. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  20. We're on a ________________ here.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  23. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  24. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. field — a subject
  4. press — a publisher
  5. wax — for sculpting
  6. track — a path
  7. mate — a friend
  8. mate — a partner
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. track — to keep track
  13. cold — an illness
  14. press — newspapers
  15. press — to push
  16. roll — a cake
  17. field — farmland
  18. roll — a list
  19. hide — animal skin
  20. roll — on a roll
  21. cold — not warm
  22. mate — to breed
  23. wax — to grow
  24. track — a song

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