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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. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  4. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  7. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  8. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  13. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  24. He has no idea where the ________________ is.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. face — to confront
  4. board — a flat piece
  5. field — farmland
  6. wax — to grow
  7. board — a committee
  8. safe — out of danger
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. kid — to tease
  11. kid — child
  12. face — to point toward
  13. face — part of the head
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. safe — out of danger
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. wound — an injury
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. wound — an injury
  20. board — to get on
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. field — a subject
  23. wax — for sculpting
  24. safe — a strongbox

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