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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 116 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. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. I can't ________________ this cold.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. row — a line
  3. rest — a break
  4. field — a subject
  5. stand — for spectators
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. scale — for weighing
  9. field — for sport
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. wax — for sculpting
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. rest — what's left
  14. scale — size or range
  15. row — to paddle
  16. scale — in music
  17. wax — to grow
  18. capital — money
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. stand — to bear
  21. field — farmland
  22. stand — on your feet
  23. capital — a city
  24. rest — what's left

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