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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: race · bear · wax · arm · mine · fork · hand · field

  1. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  5. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  9. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  10. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  16. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  17. My father caught me by the ________________.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  23. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  24. A black ________________ roamed the forest.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. hand — in cards
  4. race — the arms race
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. field — farmland
  8. fork — to eat with
  9. fork — in a road
  10. bear — to put up with
  11. field — for sport
  12. fork — a garden tool
  13. race — a contest
  14. race — humankind
  15. wax — in the ear
  16. wax — to grow
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. hand — help
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. mine — for digging
  22. bear — the animal
  23. arm — a part of something
  24. bear — the animal

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