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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  9. The light ________________ burned out.
  10. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. My mare is ________________ in color.
  18. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  19. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  20. I've got to change the light ________________.
  21. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  22. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  23. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. land — to come down
  4. field — a subject
  5. land — ground
  6. field — farmland
  7. wind — moving air
  8. can — to be able to
  9. bulb — for light
  10. bulb — of a plant
  11. wind — moving air
  12. cold — not warm
  13. field — for sport
  14. cold — an illness
  15. bay — to keep at bay
  16. land — a country
  17. bay — a horse colour
  18. bay — a part of the sea
  19. can — a tin
  20. bulb — for light
  21. wax — to grow
  22. wax — for sculpting
  23. can — a tin
  24. wind — to turn a key

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