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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. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  6. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  14. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  15. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  16. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a document
  2. court — of a king
  3. present — the time now
  4. field — a subject
  5. wax — to grow
  6. deal — a big deal
  7. tear — to rip
  8. field — for sport
  9. court — of law
  10. field — farmland
  11. court — for sport
  12. capital — a city
  13. deal — to handle
  14. present — a gift
  15. deal — an agreement
  16. present — there
  17. tear — from crying
  18. wax — in the ear
  19. tear — from crying
  20. file — a line of people
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. wax — for sculpting
  23. capital — money
  24. file — a tool

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