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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. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  2. It's one o'clock ________________.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. Did you ________________ the meat?
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. The King held a masked ________________.
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  17. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  18. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  23. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  24. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a round shape
  2. sharp — exactly
  3. field — farmland
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. wound — an injury
  6. season — to add flavour
  7. prune — to trim
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. field — a subject
  11. field — for sport
  12. ball — a dance
  13. prune — to trim
  14. wax — in the ear
  15. wound — an injury
  16. wax — to grow
  17. sharp — clever
  18. season — in sport
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. sharp — with an edge
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. season — of the year
  23. ball — a great time
  24. wax — for sculpting

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