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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 stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  3. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  4. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  16. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  17. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  18. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  19. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  20. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  23. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  24. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. dip — a sauce
  3. wax — for sculpting
  4. squash — the vegetable
  5. hand — help
  6. chest — of your body
  7. cap — a lid
  8. field — farmland
  9. staff — employees
  10. chest — of your body
  11. wax — in the ear
  12. field — a subject
  13. hand — in cards
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. wax — to grow
  16. staff — employees
  17. cap — a hat
  18. cap — of ice
  19. squash — to crush
  20. staff — a stick
  21. chest — a box
  22. dip — to dunk
  23. squash — the sport
  24. dip — to sink

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