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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 stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  3. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  4. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  11. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  12. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  13. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  19. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. lie — an untruth
  3. wax — in the ear
  4. bear — the animal
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. bear — to put up with
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. vault — a safe
  9. mine — for digging
  10. stem — of a plant
  11. lie — to recline
  12. lie — an untruth
  13. vault — an arched ceiling
  14. degree — from a university
  15. field — farmland
  16. stem — to come from
  17. degree — temperature
  18. wax — to grow
  19. bear — the animal
  20. degree — an amount
  21. wax — for sculpting
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. vault — in gymnastics
  24. field — a subject

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