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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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 · fork · field · wound · swing · mate · fan · shower

  1. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  3. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  4. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  15. David sat on the ________________.
  16. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  17. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. swing — music
  3. fan — to cool the air
  4. fork — a garden tool
  5. field — a subject
  6. mate — a friend
  7. wound — an injury
  8. field — for sport
  9. field — farmland
  10. shower — rain
  11. wax — to grow
  12. mate — to breed
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. wax — in the ear
  15. swing — to play on
  16. wax — for sculpting
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. shower — to wash
  20. fork — in a road
  21. swing — in golf
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. wound — an injury

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