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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. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. He is an ace ________________.
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. She's very handy with a ________________.
  9. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  16. He works in a ________________ mill.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  19. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  20. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  21. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  22. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  23. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. field — a subject
  3. wax — in the ear
  4. field — farmland
  5. pitcher — in baseball
  6. net — in sport
  7. wound — an injury
  8. saw — the tool
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. court — of a king
  11. court — for sport
  12. field — for sport
  13. net — after costs
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. saw — the tool
  17. net — for catching
  18. wax — for sculpting
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. racket — a loud noise
  21. saw — past of 'see'
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. wax — to grow
  24. court — of law

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