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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  9. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  14. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  15. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  16. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  17. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  22. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. field — a subject
  3. field — for sport
  4. march — music
  5. field — farmland
  6. cold — an illness
  7. cold — not warm
  8. wave — of the sea
  9. wave — with your hand
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. foot — a measure
  12. march — the month
  13. wax — to grow
  14. wax — for sculpting
  15. foot — the bottom
  16. wax — in the ear
  17. foot — part of the body
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. branch — of a tree
  20. capital — money
  21. branch — a division
  22. wave — a sudden rise
  23. capital — a city
  24. march — the month

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