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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. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  2. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  8. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  9. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  12. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  13. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  14. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  15. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  21. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. That was ________________ to happen.
  24. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — the tool
  2. chest — a box
  3. field — for sport
  4. field — a subject
  5. wax — to grow
  6. chest — of your body
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. branch — a division
  9. bound — obliged
  10. fall — to drop
  11. branch — of a tree
  12. branch — of a bank
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. fall — the season
  15. bound — tied together
  16. field — farmland
  17. fall — to drop
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. chest — of your body
  20. wax — for sculpting
  21. wax — in the ear
  22. drill — army training
  23. bound — certain
  24. drill — a practice

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