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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. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  4. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  5. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  6. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  9. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  10. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  11. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  20. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  21. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. cap — a lid
  4. face — part of the head
  5. wax — to grow
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. fork — to eat with
  9. cap — a hat
  10. wax — for sculpting
  11. fan — to cool the air
  12. cell — in biology
  13. field — for sport
  14. fork — a garden tool
  15. field — farmland
  16. row — a line
  17. fork — in a road
  18. face — to point toward
  19. face — to confront
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. cell — a phone
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. cap — of ice
  24. row — to paddle

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