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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. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  4. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  5. The tickets are free of ________________.
  6. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  7. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. David sat on the ________________.
  12. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  13. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  14. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  17. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  18. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. I'll be taking the ________________.
  23. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  24. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. field — a subject
  3. charge — electricity
  4. safe — out of danger
  5. charge — a price
  6. swing — in golf
  7. rock — a stone
  8. field — farmland
  9. tube — in a tire
  10. cold — an illness
  11. swing — to play on
  12. rock — to move gently
  13. wax — in the ear
  14. swing — music
  15. cold — not warm
  16. wax — to grow
  17. safe — a strongbox
  18. wax — for sculpting
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. charge — in control
  21. field — for sport
  22. tube — the underground
  23. safe — out of danger
  24. tube — a container

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