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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. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  4. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  5. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  10. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  11. My mare is ________________ in color.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  16. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  17. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  18. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  19. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. field — for sport
  3. lie — to recline
  4. lie — an untruth
  5. board — to get on
  6. tube — the underground
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. field — farmland
  9. tube — a container
  10. bay — to keep at bay
  11. bay — a horse colour
  12. kid — child
  13. bay — a part of the sea
  14. kid — to tease
  15. board — a committee
  16. wax — to grow
  17. lie — an untruth
  18. wax — for sculpting
  19. board — a flat piece
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. tube — in a tire
  22. field — a subject
  23. row — to paddle
  24. row — a line

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