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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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  4. Have you met the new head ________________?
  5. You don't need to ________________ round.
  6. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  9. We're almost out of ________________.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  12. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  13. I can't ________________ this cold.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  19. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  24. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. pop — music
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. pop — to visit
  6. stand — for spectators
  7. wax — to grow
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. pop — soda
  10. field — a subject
  11. coach — pulled by horses
  12. mark — to pay attention
  13. stand — to bear
  14. field — for sport
  15. net — in sport
  16. net — for catching
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. net — after costs
  19. stand — on your feet
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. mark — a trace
  22. field — farmland
  23. mark — a grade
  24. wax — for sculpting

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