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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. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  9. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  21. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  22. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. degree — temperature
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. last — finally
  6. kid — to tease
  7. wax — to grow
  8. wake — to stop sleeping
  9. wax — in the ear
  10. last — to go on
  11. degree — from a university
  12. wake — before a funeral
  13. wake — a trail
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. degree — an amount
  16. lie — an untruth
  17. kid — child
  18. lie — to recline
  19. field — a subject
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. wax — for sculpting
  22. patient — calm and waiting
  23. field — farmland
  24. last — final

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