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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 120 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 ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  6. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  7. She's very handy with a ________________.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  12. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  13. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  14. David sat on the ________________.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  18. Have you met the new head ________________?
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. He works in a ________________ mill.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. field — farmland
  3. prune — to trim
  4. kid — to tease
  5. wax — to grow
  6. wax — for sculpting
  7. saw — the tool
  8. field — a subject
  9. field — for sport
  10. prune — to trim
  11. swing — music
  12. swing — in golf
  13. coach — pulled by horses
  14. swing — to play on
  15. kid — child
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. saw — past of 'see'
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. wound — an injury
  21. wax — in the ear
  22. wound — an injury
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. saw — the tool

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