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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. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. It's one o'clock ________________.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  9. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  10. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  11. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  12. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  22. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  23. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. sharp — exactly
  4. clip — a video
  5. cap — a hat
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. drill — a practice
  8. face — to confront
  9. face — part of the head
  10. lean — to bend
  11. wax — in the ear
  12. cap — a lid
  13. clip — to cut
  14. sharp — clever
  15. wax — to grow
  16. field — farmland
  17. drill — army training
  18. lean — thin
  19. clip — for paper
  20. field — for sport
  21. face — to point toward
  22. lean — to rest against
  23. cap — of ice
  24. drill — the tool

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