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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. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  10. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  15. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  16. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  19. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  20. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. prune — to trim
  3. spring — the season
  4. board — to get on
  5. chest — of your body
  6. prune — to trim
  7. field — a subject
  8. field — for sport
  9. wax — in the ear
  10. wax — for sculpting
  11. field — farmland
  12. hide — animal skin
  13. spring — of water
  14. board — a committee
  15. wax — to grow
  16. board — a flat piece
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. foot — part of the body
  19. foot — the bottom
  20. hide — to keep secret
  21. spring — a coil
  22. foot — a measure
  23. chest — of your body
  24. chest — a box

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