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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 stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  5. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. She's very handy with a ________________.
  9. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  17. He works in a ________________ mill.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  20. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  21. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  24. The King held a masked ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. field — a subject
  4. bear — the animal
  5. ball — a great time
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. degree — temperature
  8. saw — the tool
  9. bear — the animal
  10. degree — from a university
  11. wax — for sculpting
  12. field — farmland
  13. degree — an amount
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. sharp — clever
  17. saw — the tool
  18. kid — child
  19. ball — a round shape
  20. bear — to put up with
  21. wax — to grow
  22. kid — to tease
  23. saw — past of 'see'
  24. ball — a dance

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