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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 120 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. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  8. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. That must've been a ________________.
  11. My father caught me by the ________________.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  21. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  22. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  23. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  24. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. rush — to hurry
  4. last — to go on
  5. chest — a box
  6. chest — of your body
  7. ruler — for measuring
  8. pound — for dogs
  9. chest — of your body
  10. rush — a thrill
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. field — a subject
  13. wax — to grow
  14. field — farmland
  15. rush — hurry
  16. last — finally
  17. last — final
  18. ruler — a monarch
  19. field — for sport
  20. arm — a part of something
  21. arm — part of the body
  22. pound — to hit hard
  23. ruler — for measuring
  24. pound — a weight

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