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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  9. The ________________ went through the wall.
  10. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  11. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  12. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  13. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  18. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  19. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. Did you ________________ the button?
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. chair — a leader
  4. nail — on a finger
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. bass — the instrument
  7. field — a subject
  8. bass — low music
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. wax — in the ear
  11. press — a publisher
  12. wake — to stop sleeping
  13. bass — the fish
  14. wake — a trail
  15. press — newspapers
  16. field — for sport
  17. wake — before a funeral
  18. wax — to grow
  19. wax — for sculpting
  20. degree — from a university
  21. degree — temperature
  22. press — to push
  23. degree — an amount
  24. nail — for a hammer

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