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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. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  2. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  7. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  12. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  13. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. My father caught me by the ________________.
  23. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  24. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — a part of something
  2. file — a document
  3. field — farmland
  4. hand — help
  5. court — of a king
  6. wax — to grow
  7. kick — a thrill
  8. field — for sport
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. kick — in football
  12. snap — to speak sharply
  13. wax — in the ear
  14. file — a tool
  15. arm — part of the body
  16. file — a line of people
  17. kick — with a leg
  18. hand — in cards
  19. court — for sport
  20. court — of law
  21. field — a subject
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. wax — for sculpting
  24. snap — to click

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