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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. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  10. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  11. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  18. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  22. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  23. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. club — a group
  3. prune — to trim
  4. ruler — a monarch
  5. bark — to shout
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. wax — to grow
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. track — a path
  10. track — a song
  11. track — to keep track
  12. field — a subject
  13. ruler — for measuring
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. club — for dancing
  16. capital — a city
  17. wax — for sculpting
  18. club — for golf
  19. capital — money
  20. field — farmland
  21. ruler — for measuring
  22. wax — in the ear
  23. prune — to trim
  24. bark — of a tree

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