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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: hand · field · land · wax · bulb · cold · temple · kick

  1. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. The light ________________ burned out.
  5. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  9. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. I've got to change the light ________________.
  12. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  13. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. When was this ________________ built?
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  21. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  22. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. hand — in cards
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. bulb — for light
  5. wax — to grow
  6. cold — not warm
  7. field — for sport
  8. wax — in the ear
  9. bulb — of a plant
  10. hand — help
  11. bulb — for light
  12. wax — for sculpting
  13. temple — side of the head
  14. land — ground
  15. kick — a thrill
  16. field — a subject
  17. land — to come down
  18. temple — a place of worship
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. kick — with a leg
  21. temple — a place of worship
  22. kick — in football
  23. cold — an illness
  24. land — a country

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