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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. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. I've got to change the light ________________.
  3. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  4. The King held a masked ________________.
  5. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  16. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  17. The light ________________ burned out.
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  20. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. bulb — for light
  3. rest — a break
  4. ball — a dance
  5. ball — a great time
  6. band — a ring
  7. band — a music group
  8. ground — a position
  9. ground — the earth
  10. wax — for sculpting
  11. field — a subject
  12. file — a line of people
  13. file — a tool
  14. ground — crushed
  15. rest — what's left
  16. ball — a round shape
  17. bulb — for light
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. wax — to grow
  20. wax — in the ear
  21. field — farmland
  22. bulb — of a plant
  23. file — a document
  24. rest — what's left

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