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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. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  6. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  7. I'll be taking the ________________.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  13. I can't ________________ this cold.
  14. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  15. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  16. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  20. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  21. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  24. The moon will ________________ and wane.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — a break
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. chest — of your body
  4. field — for sport
  5. current — of water
  6. rest — what's left
  7. tube — the underground
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. kid — child
  10. kid — to tease
  11. field — a subject
  12. wax — for sculpting
  13. stand — to bear
  14. stand — for spectators
  15. current — electric
  16. current — happening now
  17. chest — of your body
  18. field — farmland
  19. tube — in a tire
  20. tube — a container
  21. stand — on your feet
  22. chest — a box
  23. rest — what's left
  24. wax — to grow

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