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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. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. Have you settled on a ________________?
  3. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  4. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  9. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  12. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  13. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  14. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  15. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  16. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  17. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  18. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. wax — in the ear
  4. hide — animal skin
  5. field — a subject
  6. chip — in a computer
  7. field — farmland
  8. chip — for betting
  9. object — a thing
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. chip — to eat
  14. wax — to grow
  15. object — an aim
  16. object — to protest
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. date — the fruit
  19. field — for sport
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. capital — a city
  22. wax — for sculpting
  23. capital — money
  24. hand — help

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