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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: sharp · clip · wax · hand · rush · stand · board · field

  1. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  3. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  10. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  20. That must've been a ________________.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. It's one o'clock ________________.
  23. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  24. I can't ________________ this cold.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. stand — on your feet
  3. rush — to hurry
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. clip — to cut
  6. stand — for spectators
  7. sharp — clever
  8. clip — for paper
  9. board — a committee
  10. wax — to grow
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. wax — for sculpting
  13. hand — in cards
  14. field — a subject
  15. rush — hurry
  16. field — for sport
  17. board — a flat piece
  18. clip — a video
  19. board — to get on
  20. rush — a thrill
  21. field — farmland
  22. sharp — exactly
  23. sharp — with an edge
  24. stand — to bear

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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