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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. False peace will not ________________.
  2. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  3. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. You don't need to ________________ round.
  6. We're almost out of ________________.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  17. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  20. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  21. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  22. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  23. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. fine — all right
  3. wax — in the ear
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. pop — to visit
  6. pop — soda
  7. field — for sport
  8. chair — to sit on
  9. land — ground
  10. fine — a penalty
  11. last — finally
  12. land — to come down
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. chair — a leader
  15. land — a country
  16. fine — high quality
  17. snap — to click
  18. field — a subject
  19. snap — to speak sharply
  20. wax — for sculpting
  21. last — final
  22. pop — music
  23. wax — to grow
  24. field — farmland

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