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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. There's no middle ________________.
  2. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  5. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  11. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  12. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  15. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  16. Have you settled on a ________________?
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  24. Add some ________________ pepper to it.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. rock — to move gently
  3. cold — an illness
  4. ground — the earth
  5. rock — music
  6. field — farmland
  7. deal — a big deal
  8. field — for sport
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. date — the fruit
  12. wax — in the ear
  13. field — a subject
  14. deal — an agreement
  15. rock — a stone
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. cold — not warm
  19. deal — to handle
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. wax — for sculpting
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. wax — to grow
  24. ground — crushed

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