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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 116 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. When are we going to ________________?
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  6. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  11. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  12. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  13. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  14. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  15. Did you ________________ the meat?
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. cell — a phone
  3. cell — in biology
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. wake — to stop sleeping
  6. cue — a signal
  7. bat — the animal
  8. cue — a hint
  9. field — a subject
  10. season — in sport
  11. wake — before a funeral
  12. wax — to grow
  13. cue — for pool
  14. wax — for sculpting
  15. season — to add flavour
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. season — of the year
  18. field — farmland
  19. field — for sport
  20. land — a country
  21. wake — a trail
  22. land — ground
  23. wax — in the ear
  24. bat — in an idiom

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