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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. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  3. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  15. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  19. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  20. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. He is an ace ________________.
  23. That must've been a ________________.
  24. Fill up this ________________ with water.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. drill — army training
  3. wax — in the ear
  4. field — a subject
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. court — for sport
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. wax — to grow
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. chip — for betting
  11. court — of law
  12. field — farmland
  13. drill — the tool
  14. rush — to hurry
  15. chip — in a computer
  16. drill — a practice
  17. field — for sport
  18. wax — for sculpting
  19. chip — to eat
  20. perch — the fish
  21. court — of a king
  22. pitcher — in baseball
  23. rush — a thrill
  24. pitcher — a jug

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