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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. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. My father caught me by the ________________.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  15. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  16. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  17. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  23. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  24. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — the animal
  2. file — a tool
  3. fork — in a road
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. field — a subject
  6. land — to come down
  7. field — farmland
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. land — a country
  10. arm — part of the body
  11. capital — money
  12. file — a line of people
  13. land — ground
  14. wax — for sculpting
  15. wax — to grow
  16. bear — the animal
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. field — for sport
  19. arm — a part of something
  20. file — a document
  21. capital — a city
  22. fork — a garden tool
  23. bear — to put up with
  24. fork — to eat with

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