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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. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  2. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  3. Have you settled on a ________________?
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. The ________________ took off on time.
  8. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  9. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  10. The King held a masked ________________.
  11. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  12. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. My father caught me by the ________________.
  16. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  17. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  18. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  19. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  20. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  21. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a round shape
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. field — for sport
  6. chest — a box
  7. plane — an aircraft
  8. plane — in geometry
  9. arm — a part of something
  10. ball — a dance
  11. cap — a lid
  12. cap — a hat
  13. field — farmland
  14. chest — of your body
  15. arm — part of the body
  16. date — the fruit
  17. wax — to grow
  18. cap — of ice
  19. wax — for sculpting
  20. plane — a tool
  21. date — on the calendar
  22. chest — of your body
  23. ball — a great time
  24. field — a subject

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