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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. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  2. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  3. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  11. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. That must've been a ________________.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  17. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  18. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  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. chip — in a computer
  2. rush — hurry
  3. wax — in the ear
  4. cold — an illness
  5. chip — for betting
  6. row — to paddle
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. track — to keep track
  9. field — farmland
  10. chip — to eat
  11. track — a path
  12. cold — not warm
  13. rush — a thrill
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. field — a subject
  16. track — a song
  17. rush — to hurry
  18. wax — to grow
  19. row — a line
  20. mine — for digging
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. wax — for sculpting
  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