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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: leaves · spell · squash · field · wax · stock · game · ball

  1. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  3. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  7. The King held a masked ________________.
  8. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  11. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  16. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  17. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  20. The ________________ market has crashed.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. The kitten curled into a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. squash — to crush
  3. wax — in the ear
  4. field — for sport
  5. spell — letters
  6. stock — a soup base
  7. ball — a dance
  8. ball — a great time
  9. game — a match
  10. leaves — to go away
  11. leaves — lets stay
  12. spell — magic
  13. leaves — of a tree
  14. spell — a short time
  15. squash — the sport
  16. wax — for sculpting
  17. squash — the vegetable
  18. field — a subject
  19. wax — to grow
  20. stock — shares
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. stock — goods
  23. game — wild animals
  24. ball — a round shape

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