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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  4. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  10. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  11. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  12. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  13. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  19. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  20. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  21. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  24. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. wax — to grow
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. field — for sport
  7. squash — the sport
  8. squash — to crush
  9. track — a song
  10. squash — the vegetable
  11. track — to keep track
  12. wax — for sculpting
  13. fall — the season
  14. cold — not warm
  15. field — a subject
  16. track — a path
  17. field — farmland
  18. fall — to drop
  19. wax — in the ear
  20. fall — to drop
  21. hide — animal skin
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. chair — a leader
  24. chair — to sit on

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