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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. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  2. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  6. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  7. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  8. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  14. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  15. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. Don't do anything ________________.
  18. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  21. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  22. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  23. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  24. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a car
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. field — farmland
  4. field — a subject
  5. wax — to grow
  6. drill — a practice
  7. wax — in the ear
  8. fan — to cool the air
  9. spell — letters
  10. field — for sport
  11. drill — army training
  12. rash — a series
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. trunk — of an elephant
  15. rash — on the skin
  16. spell — a short time
  17. rash — hasty
  18. fine — high quality
  19. spell — magic
  20. drill — the tool
  21. fine — a penalty
  22. fine — all right
  23. wax — for sculpting
  24. trunk — of a tree

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