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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. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  10. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  11. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  12. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. It's one o'clock ________________.
  15. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  16. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  17. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  18. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. The moon will ________________ and wane.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. calf — a young animal
  4. field — a subject
  5. kid — child
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. calf — of the leg
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. calf — a young animal
  10. sharp — with an edge
  11. wake — before a funeral
  12. sharp — clever
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. sharp — exactly
  15. wake — a trail
  16. snap — to click
  17. wake — to stop sleeping
  18. wax — in the ear
  19. kid — to tease
  20. cell — in biology
  21. field — farmland
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. field — for sport
  24. wax — to grow

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