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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  3. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  7. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  10. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  13. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  16. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  17. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. rest — what's left
  3. bank — for money
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. mine — for digging
  6. scale — in music
  7. scale — size or range
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. rest — what's left
  10. wax — for sculpting
  11. degree — from a university
  12. rest — a break
  13. sharp — with an edge
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. bank — of a river
  16. bank — for money
  17. sharp — clever
  18. field — a subject
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. wax — to grow
  21. field — for sport
  22. scale — for weighing
  23. degree — temperature
  24. degree — an amount

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