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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. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. That must've been a ________________.
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  15. The ________________ went through the wall.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  22. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  23. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  24. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. tear — from crying
  3. tear — to rip
  4. current — electric
  5. field — for sport
  6. rush — a thrill
  7. wax — to grow
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. current — of water
  11. chest — a box
  12. chair — a leader
  13. field — a subject
  14. wax — in the ear
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. field — farmland
  17. chest — of your body
  18. tear — from crying
  19. nail — on a finger
  20. chest — of your body
  21. rush — hurry
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. rush — to hurry
  24. current — happening now

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