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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 116 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. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  3. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  4. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  12. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  13. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  19. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  20. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. staff — a stick
  3. bass — the instrument
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. field — a subject
  6. staff — employees
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. branch — a division
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. row — a line
  11. branch — of a tree
  12. wax — for sculpting
  13. wax — to grow
  14. row — to paddle
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. staff — employees
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. hide — animal skin
  19. bass — the fish
  20. bass — low music
  21. field — farmland
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. field — for sport
  24. hide — to keep secret

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