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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. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  10. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  11. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  12. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  16. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  17. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  18. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  19. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  24. Boris sat near the fire ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. field — farmland
  3. fall — the season
  4. last — final
  5. wound — an injury
  6. wake — to stop sleeping
  7. wax — to grow
  8. field — for sport
  9. cap — of ice
  10. wax — in the ear
  11. pit — in a race
  12. pit — a fruit stone
  13. last — to go on
  14. wound — an injury
  15. wake — before a funeral
  16. cap — a hat
  17. cap — a lid
  18. wax — for sculpting
  19. fall — to drop
  20. wake — a trail
  21. field — a subject
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. fall — to drop
  24. pit — a hole

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