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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. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  13. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  17. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  18. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  23. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. lean — thin
  3. cold — an illness
  4. lean — to rest against
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. lean — to bend
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. field — for sport
  10. field — farmland
  11. march — the month
  12. wax — to grow
  13. wave — of the sea
  14. bark — to shout
  15. cold — not warm
  16. toast — bread
  17. wave — with your hand
  18. toast — a drink to someone
  19. march — music
  20. march — the month
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. wave — a sudden rise
  23. toast — the most admired
  24. cold — the Cold War

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