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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. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  13. The ________________ went through the wall.
  14. I can't ________________ this cold.
  15. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — to rip
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. court — of a king
  4. field — a subject
  5. field — for sport
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. row — a line
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. nail — on a finger
  11. field — farmland
  12. stand — for spectators
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. stand — to bear
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. tear — from crying
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. court — for sport
  19. wax — to grow
  20. tear — from crying
  21. court — of law
  22. stand — on your feet
  23. row — to paddle
  24. perch — the fish

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