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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: field · prune · wax · rest · chair · board · net · pit

  1. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  6. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  23. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  24. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. chair — a leader
  3. rest — what's left
  4. field — farmland
  5. rest — a break
  6. wax — for sculpting
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. board — to get on
  9. field — a subject
  10. wax — in the ear
  11. wax — to grow
  12. chair — a professorship
  13. field — for sport
  14. pit — a hole
  15. prune — to trim
  16. rest — what's left
  17. prune — to trim
  18. net — for catching
  19. board — a flat piece
  20. net — after costs
  21. net — in sport
  22. board — a committee
  23. pit — in a race
  24. pit — a fruit stone

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