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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. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  11. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  12. I've got to change the light ________________.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  21. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  24. The light ________________ burned out.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. file — a tool
  4. field — a subject
  5. bulb — of a plant
  6. field — for sport
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. net — after costs
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. track — a song
  11. wax — in the ear
  12. bulb — for light
  13. file — a line of people
  14. wax — to grow
  15. field — farmland
  16. wax — for sculpting
  17. net — in sport
  18. net — for catching
  19. file — a document
  20. chair — a leader
  21. track — a path
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. track — to keep track
  24. bulb — for light

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