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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. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  2. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  18. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  19. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  20. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  21. My mare is ________________ in color.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. bay — to keep at bay
  2. drill — a practice
  3. field — for sport
  4. drill — army training
  5. clip — to cut
  6. scale — size or range
  7. cold — not warm
  8. race — humankind
  9. scale — in music
  10. clip — for paper
  11. field — farmland
  12. race — a contest
  13. wax — in the ear
  14. race — the arms race
  15. cold — an illness
  16. field — a subject
  17. wax — for sculpting
  18. wax — to grow
  19. drill — the tool
  20. bay — a part of the sea
  21. bay — a horse colour
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. clip — a video
  24. scale — for weighing

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