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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  11. The ________________ took off on time.
  12. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  13. Don't do anything ________________.
  14. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  15. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  18. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  19. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  20. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  21. Where did you ________________ them?
  22. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. I seem to be developing a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. field — a subject
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. capital — a city
  5. plane — a tool
  6. wound — an injury
  7. field — for sport
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. capital — money
  10. mug — a cup
  11. plane — an aircraft
  12. wax — in the ear
  13. rash — hasty
  14. mug — a face
  15. wax — for sculpting
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. rash — a series
  18. perch — the fish
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. plane — in geometry
  21. mug — to rob
  22. wax — to grow
  23. wound — an injury
  24. rash — on the skin

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