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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's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. Don't do anything ________________.
  10. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  11. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  12. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  16. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  20. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  21. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  22. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  23. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. wax — to grow
  3. wound — an injury
  4. net — in sport
  5. wound — an injury
  6. game — wild animals
  7. field — for sport
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. rash — hasty
  10. rash — a series
  11. rash — on the skin
  12. craft — a skill
  13. net — after costs
  14. net — for catching
  15. craft — boats
  16. wax — in the ear
  17. field — farmland
  18. game — a match
  19. craft — a handicraft
  20. present — the time now
  21. present — a gift
  22. wax — for sculpting
  23. present — there
  24. game — a kind of play

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