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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 124 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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: wax · fork · chest · deal · field · race

  1. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  2. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  10. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  14. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.

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

Answer key

  1. race — a contest
  2. deal — a big deal
  3. chest — of your body
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. field — a subject
  7. chest — a box
  8. field — for sport
  9. fork — a garden tool
  10. wax — to grow
  11. fork — in a road
  12. race — humankind
  13. deal — an agreement
  14. fork — to eat with
  15. chest — of your body
  16. race — the arms race
  17. field — farmland
  18. deal — to handle

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