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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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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: cap · net · row · kick · present · wax · tear · field

  1. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  4. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  5. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  9. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  19. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  20. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  23. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. kick — with a leg
  4. present — there
  5. cap — a lid
  6. tear — from crying
  7. net — for catching
  8. wax — in the ear
  9. cap — of ice
  10. tear — to rip
  11. net — in sport
  12. row — a line
  13. present — a gift
  14. row — to paddle
  15. wax — for sculpting
  16. field — a subject
  17. field — for sport
  18. net — after costs
  19. cap — a hat
  20. kick — in football
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. present — the time now
  23. wax — to grow
  24. tear — from crying

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