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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. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  5. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  6. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. The light ________________ burned out.
  9. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  16. I've got to change the light ________________.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  19. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  22. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — of a plant
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. land — a country
  4. squash — to crush
  5. wake — to stop sleeping
  6. bore — to tire
  7. land — ground
  8. bulb — for light
  9. wake — a trail
  10. field — a subject
  11. wax — to grow
  12. field — for sport
  13. mine — for digging
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. wax — in the ear
  16. bulb — for light
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. bore — to drill
  19. squash — the sport
  20. land — to come down
  21. bore — gave birth
  22. squash — the vegetable
  23. field — farmland
  24. wake — before a funeral

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