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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. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  2. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  13. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  17. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  20. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  21. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  24. Biology is a ________________ of science.

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

Answer key

  1. wave — with your hand
  2. wave — of the sea
  3. field — for sport
  4. file — a tool
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. wake — to stop sleeping
  7. wax — to grow
  8. net — after costs
  9. net — in sport
  10. field — farmland
  11. file — a line of people
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. branch — of a tree
  14. net — for catching
  15. field — a subject
  16. wake — before a funeral
  17. wave — a sudden rise
  18. file — a document
  19. wax — for sculpting
  20. branch — of a bank
  21. patient — calm and waiting
  22. wake — a trail
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. branch — a division

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