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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. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. Don't do anything ________________.
  9. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  10. Have you met the new head ________________?
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  14. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  15. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  16. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  17. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  18. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  24. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a football final
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. field — farmland
  4. coach — pulled by horses
  5. cell — a phone
  6. rash — a series
  7. race — the arms race
  8. rash — hasty
  9. wax — to grow
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. race — a contest
  12. cell — in biology
  13. wax — for sculpting
  14. wax — in the ear
  15. bowl — a dish
  16. wave — of the sea
  17. rash — on the skin
  18. wave — with your hand
  19. field — a subject
  20. race — humankind
  21. wave — a sudden rise
  22. field — for sport
  23. bowl — to roll
  24. coach — a trainer

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