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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. False peace will not ________________.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  10. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  19. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  20. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  23. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. game — a match
  3. wax — to grow
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. field — a subject
  6. root — of a plant
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. field — for sport
  9. bore — gave birth
  10. bore — to tire
  11. field — farmland
  12. bore — to drill
  13. game — wild animals
  14. drill — the tool
  15. root — the cause
  16. drill — army training
  17. drill — a practice
  18. wax — in the ear
  19. chair — a professorship
  20. root — of a word
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. last — final
  23. chair — a leader
  24. last — finally

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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