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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. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  2. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  3. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  18. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. The ________________ market has crashed.
  22. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. drill — army training
  3. cell — in biology
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. field — a subject
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. march — the month
  8. march — music
  9. wax — for sculpting
  10. march — the month
  11. mine — for digging
  12. wax — to grow
  13. cell — a phone
  14. drill — the tool
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. field — farmland
  17. stock — goods
  18. stock — a soup base
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. stock — shares
  22. hide — animal skin
  23. field — for sport
  24. drill — a practice

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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