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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. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  12. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  13. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  14. I can't ________________ this cold.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  17. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  18. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  24. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to snap out of it
  2. field — farmland
  3. wax — to grow
  4. row — a line
  5. rock — to move gently
  6. field — for sport
  7. stand — for spectators
  8. snap — to click
  9. field — a subject
  10. land — ground
  11. pit — a fruit stone
  12. rock — music
  13. rock — a stone
  14. stand — to bear
  15. land — to come down
  16. wax — in the ear
  17. stand — on your feet
  18. pit — a hole
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. row — to paddle
  21. pit — in a race
  22. land — a country
  23. snap — to speak sharply
  24. wax — for sculpting

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