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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 124 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. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. Have you found your soul ________________?
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  10. The light ________________ burned out.
  11. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  12. Have you settled on a ________________?
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. When was this ________________ built?
  16. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  19. I've got to change the light ________________.
  20. He works in a ________________ mill.
  21. She's very handy with a ________________.
  22. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  23. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  24. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. game — wild animals
  3. mate — a partner
  4. game — a match
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. temple — a place of worship
  7. wax — to grow
  8. field — a subject
  9. date — the fruit
  10. bulb — for light
  11. mate — a friend
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. field — farmland
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. temple — a place of worship
  16. mate — to breed
  17. field — for sport
  18. temple — side of the head
  19. bulb — for light
  20. saw — the tool
  21. saw — the tool
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. wax — for sculpting
  24. bulb — of a plant

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