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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. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  2. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  7. Have you settled on a ________________?
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. The ________________ went through the wall.
  12. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  19. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  22. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  23. Have you met the new head ________________?
  24. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. nail — for a hammer
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. wax — to grow
  4. spring — the season
  5. chest — of your body
  6. bowl — a football final
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. chest — of your body
  10. spring — a coil
  11. nail — for a hammer
  12. date — the fruit
  13. chest — a box
  14. bowl — to roll
  15. spring — of water
  16. field — for sport
  17. field — a subject
  18. coach — pulled by horses
  19. nail — on a finger
  20. field — farmland
  21. bowl — a dish
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. wax — in the ear

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