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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 116 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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  3. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  4. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  5. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  6. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  14. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  15. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. Have you found your soul ________________?
  20. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. wave — of the sea
  3. mate — to breed
  4. wax — to grow
  5. bass — low music
  6. wave — a sudden rise
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. bass — the instrument
  9. cold — an illness
  10. mine — for digging
  11. race — humankind
  12. field — a subject
  13. mate — a friend
  14. wax — in the ear
  15. bass — the fish
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. race — the arms race
  18. race — a contest
  19. mate — a partner
  20. wax — for sculpting
  21. cold — not warm
  22. wave — with your hand
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. field — for sport

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