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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. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  7. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  10. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  13. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  14. Have you settled on a ________________?
  15. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  16. The ________________ went through the wall.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  20. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  21. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  22. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  23. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  24. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. field — farmland
  3. field — a subject
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. chest — of your body
  6. drill — army training
  7. drill — the tool
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. wax — to grow
  10. nail — on a finger
  11. chest — of your body
  12. current — of water
  13. current — happening now
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. field — for sport
  18. chest — a box
  19. current — electric
  20. date — the fruit
  21. racket — a loud noise
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. drill — a practice

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