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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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Word bank
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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 · spell · field · coach · ball · cold · chip · mine

  1. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  5. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  13. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  20. The King held a masked ________________.
  21. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  22. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. Have you met the new head ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. chip — to eat
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. wax — to grow
  4. chip — for betting
  5. coach — pulled by horses
  6. field — for sport
  7. spell — letters
  8. spell — magic
  9. cold — not warm
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. spell — a short time
  12. ball — a great time
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. mine — for digging
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. ball — a round shape
  17. cold — an illness
  18. field — farmland
  19. wax — for sculpting
  20. ball — a dance
  21. chip — in a computer
  22. wax — in the ear
  23. field — a subject
  24. coach — a trainer

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