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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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. I'll be taking the ________________.
  6. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  14. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  17. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  18. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  22. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. wax — to grow
  3. field — a subject
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. tube — the underground
  6. mark — a trace
  7. field — farmland
  8. mine — for digging
  9. perch — the fish
  10. field — for sport
  11. tube — a container
  12. row — to paddle
  13. wax — for sculpting
  14. mark — a grade
  15. shower — rain
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. wax — in the ear
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. mark — to pay attention
  22. tube — in a tire
  23. row — a line
  24. row — a quarrel

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