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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. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  2. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. What do you think of the new ________________?
  12. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  15. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. Have you found your soul ________________?
  24. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — to breed
  2. wax — to grow
  3. field — a subject
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. net — in sport
  6. field — for sport
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. net — after costs
  9. mate — a friend
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. cabinet — ministers
  12. racket — a loud noise
  13. kid — to tease
  14. cabinet — ministers
  15. wax — in the ear
  16. field — farmland
  17. wax — for sculpting
  18. kid — child
  19. game — a match
  20. net — for catching
  21. racket — for tennis
  22. game — wild animals
  23. mate — a partner
  24. cabinet — a cupboard

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