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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 120 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: hand · rest · face · wax · stick · field · nail · club

  1. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  6. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  7. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  8. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  13. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  14. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  15. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  18. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  21. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  22. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  23. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  24. The ________________ went through the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — for a hammer
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. field — a subject
  4. hand — in cards
  5. rest — what's left
  6. wax — for sculpting
  7. stick — to attach or keep to
  8. face — to confront
  9. field — for sport
  10. club — a group
  11. face — to point toward
  12. wax — in the ear
  13. club — for dancing
  14. stick — a piece of wood
  15. stick — a piece of wood
  16. hand — help
  17. nail — on a finger
  18. face — part of the head
  19. field — farmland
  20. club — for golf
  21. wax — to grow
  22. rest — a break
  23. rest — what's left
  24. nail — for a hammer

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