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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. The King held a masked ________________.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  10. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  19. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  22. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  23. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. ball — a dance
  3. field — farmland
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. race — the arms race
  6. wax — to grow
  7. row — a line
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. club — a group
  10. drill — army training
  11. game — a match
  12. wax — in the ear
  13. drill — a practice
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. race — a contest
  16. row — to paddle
  17. race — humankind
  18. ball — a great time
  19. drill — the tool
  20. field — a subject
  21. club — for golf
  22. club — for dancing
  23. ball — a round shape
  24. game — wild animals

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