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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.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
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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. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  3. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  4. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  10. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  13. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  14. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  21. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  22. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  23. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  24. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. present — there
  3. stick — a piece of wood
  4. wax — to grow
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. face — to confront
  7. field — a subject
  8. shower — to wash
  9. snap — to click
  10. wax — in the ear
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. stick — to attach or keep to
  13. present — the time now
  14. fork — to eat with
  15. field — farmland
  16. face — part of the head
  17. field — for sport
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. shower — rain
  20. snap — to snap out of it
  21. fork — in a road
  22. stick — a piece of wood
  23. face — to point toward
  24. wax — for sculpting

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