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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. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  9. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  10. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  13. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  14. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  15. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  16. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  17. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  18. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  19. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  20. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  21. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. net — after costs
  3. wax — for sculpting
  4. capital — money
  5. field — a subject
  6. field — farmland
  7. net — in sport
  8. lean — to bend
  9. lean — thin
  10. kick — in football
  11. wax — to grow
  12. kick — with a leg
  13. root — the cause
  14. board — a committee
  15. root — of a plant
  16. board — to get on
  17. kick — a thrill
  18. lean — to rest against
  19. wax — in the ear
  20. board — a flat piece
  21. root — of a word
  22. net — for catching
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. capital — a city

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