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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. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  5. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  16. Have you met the new head ________________?
  17. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  21. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  24. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — the earth
  2. game — a match
  3. cold — an illness
  4. coach — pulled by horses
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. wax — to grow
  8. cold — not warm
  9. ground — a position
  10. wax — for sculpting
  11. field — for sport
  12. ground — crushed
  13. wave — with your hand
  14. field — farmland
  15. wave — a sudden rise
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. wave — of the sea
  18. game — wild animals
  19. field — a subject
  20. wax — in the ear
  21. racket — a loud noise
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. racket — for tennis
  24. coach — a trainer

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