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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. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  5. We're almost out of ________________.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. The ________________ market has crashed.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. You don't need to ________________ round.
  13. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  14. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  15. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  16. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  23. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. lash — an eyelash
  5. pop — soda
  6. row — to paddle
  7. cell — a phone
  8. stock — shares
  9. bark — to shout
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. pop — to visit
  13. pop — music
  14. wax — in the ear
  15. wax — to grow
  16. lash — a whip stroke
  17. row — a line
  18. field — farmland
  19. lash — to lash out
  20. cell — in biology
  21. field — for sport
  22. stock — goods
  23. stock — a soup base
  24. bark — of a tree

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