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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 120 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: court · field · spring · pitcher · rest · present · lean · wax

  1. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  9. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  10. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  11. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  12. He is an ace ________________.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  17. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  18. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  19. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.

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

Answer key

  1. present — there
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. field — farmland
  4. rest — what's left
  5. spring — the season
  6. wax — for sculpting
  7. court — of a king
  8. rest — a break
  9. present — the time now
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. rest — what's left
  12. pitcher — in baseball
  13. field — a subject
  14. wax — to grow
  15. court — for sport
  16. lean — to bend
  17. lean — thin
  18. present — a gift
  19. lean — to rest against
  20. spring — a coil
  21. field — for sport
  22. court — of law
  23. spring — of water
  24. pitcher — a jug

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