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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. She's very handy with a ________________.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  8. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  9. That must've been a ________________.
  10. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  13. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  14. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  15. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  16. Have you met the new head ________________?
  17. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  18. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  19. He works in a ________________ mill.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. wax — to grow
  4. rush — to hurry
  5. field — for sport
  6. tube — the underground
  7. wake — to stop sleeping
  8. coach — pulled by horses
  9. rush — a thrill
  10. saw — past of 'see'
  11. row — a line
  12. tube — a container
  13. wax — in the ear
  14. tube — in a tire
  15. wax — for sculpting
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. rush — hurry
  19. saw — the tool
  20. field — farmland
  21. wake — before a funeral
  22. field — a subject
  23. wake — a trail
  24. row — to paddle

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