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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 120 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 moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  4. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  5. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  10. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  11. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. The light ________________ burned out.
  19. I've got to change the light ________________.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. track — a path
  4. foot — part of the body
  5. bulb — of a plant
  6. land — a country
  7. track — to keep track
  8. field — a subject
  9. track — a song
  10. foot — a measure
  11. foot — the bottom
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. field — for sport
  14. band — a ring
  15. band — a music group
  16. wax — for sculpting
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. bulb — for light
  19. bulb — for light
  20. land — to come down
  21. land — ground
  22. wax — in the ear
  23. field — farmland
  24. bat — the animal

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