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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. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. You don't need to ________________ round.
  4. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  7. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  8. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  9. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  10. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. We're almost out of ________________.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  17. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  18. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  21. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  24. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. field — for sport
  3. pop — to visit
  4. snap — to click
  5. field — farmland
  6. bore — to drill
  7. pitch — a sports field
  8. pitch — a sales talk
  9. wax — in the ear
  10. bore — to tire
  11. field — a subject
  12. pitch — completely
  13. shower — to wash
  14. pop — soda
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. wake — to stop sleeping
  17. bore — gave birth
  18. wake — before a funeral
  19. shower — rain
  20. wax — to grow
  21. snap — to speak sharply
  22. wake — a trail
  23. pop — music
  24. snap — to snap out of it

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