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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  4. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. How do you ________________ your surname?
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. land — ground
  3. wax — for sculpting
  4. board — a flat piece
  5. shower — rain
  6. land — to come down
  7. ground — crushed
  8. board — to get on
  9. wound — an injury
  10. field — for sport
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. board — a committee
  13. ground — the earth
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. wound — an injury
  16. wax — in the ear
  17. shower — to wash
  18. spell — letters
  19. ground — a position
  20. wax — to grow
  21. land — a country
  22. spell — a short time
  23. field — a subject
  24. spell — magic

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