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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. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  6. Have you met the new head ________________?
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  12. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  13. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  16. The ________________ market has crashed.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  19. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  20. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  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. wax — to grow
  2. stock — goods
  3. bore — to drill
  4. cold — not warm
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. cold — an illness
  8. field — a subject
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. field — farmland
  11. wax — in the ear
  12. coach — pulled by horses
  13. bore — to tire
  14. mine — for digging
  15. fan — to cool the air
  16. stock — shares
  17. field — for sport
  18. bore — gave birth
  19. wax — for sculpting
  20. stock — a soup base
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. cold — the Cold War
  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