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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. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  4. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  7. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  16. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  21. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. field — farmland
  3. track — a song
  4. bore — to tire
  5. degree — an amount
  6. current — happening now
  7. wax — in the ear
  8. field — a subject
  9. band — a ring
  10. capital — a city
  11. wax — to grow
  12. wax — for sculpting
  13. degree — from a university
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. bore — to drill
  16. current — electric
  17. degree — temperature
  18. bore — gave birth
  19. field — for sport
  20. current — of water
  21. track — to keep track
  22. band — a music group
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. track — a path

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