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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. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. My mare is ________________ in color.
  4. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  5. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  13. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — to tire
  2. field — a subject
  3. bay — a horse colour
  4. bore — gave birth
  5. wax — for sculpting
  6. field — farmland
  7. march — the month
  8. bay — a part of the sea
  9. chest — a box
  10. wax — to grow
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. wax — in the ear
  13. face — to point toward
  14. march — music
  15. bay — to keep at bay
  16. band — a ring
  17. face — to confront
  18. band — a music group
  19. bore — to drill
  20. chest — of your body
  21. chest — of your body
  22. field — for sport
  23. face — part of the head
  24. march — the month

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