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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. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. The light ________________ burned out.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  6. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. She's very handy with a ________________.
  17. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. I've got to change the light ________________.
  22. David sat on the ________________.
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  24. He works in a ________________ mill.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. bulb — for light
  4. cold — an illness
  5. saw — past of 'see'
  6. bulb — of a plant
  7. field — for sport
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. hand — in cards
  10. wax — for sculpting
  11. wax — to grow
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. wax — in the ear
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. field — farmland
  16. saw — the tool
  17. swing — music
  18. cold — not warm
  19. hand — help
  20. bark — to shout
  21. bulb — for light
  22. swing — to play on
  23. swing — in golf
  24. saw — the tool

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