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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 museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  8. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  15. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  16. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  23. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. field — a subject
  3. wax — to grow
  4. mine — for digging
  5. current — of water
  6. capital — money
  7. track — a song
  8. current — electric
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. track — to keep track
  12. chest — of your body
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. craft — boats
  15. current — happening now
  16. craft — a skill
  17. chest — a box
  18. field — for sport
  19. wax — in the ear
  20. field — farmland
  21. chest — of your body
  22. craft — a handicraft
  23. track — a path
  24. capital — a city

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