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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. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  9. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  20. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  21. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  22. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  23. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. field — farmland
  3. field — for sport
  4. row — a line
  5. row — to paddle
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. wax — to grow
  8. wave — a sudden rise
  9. hide — animal skin
  10. wind — moving air
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. game — a match
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. wax — in the ear
  17. wind — moving air
  18. field — a subject
  19. wave — of the sea
  20. wax — for sculpting
  21. wave — with your hand
  22. chair — to sit on
  23. hide — to keep secret
  24. game — wild animals

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