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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: cold · net · wax · temple · wind · bat · squash · field

  1. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  3. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. When was this ________________ built?
  16. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. squash — the sport
  3. temple — a place of worship
  4. net — in sport
  5. field — for sport
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. bat — the animal
  9. wind — moving air
  10. net — for catching
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. field — a subject
  13. temple — side of the head
  14. wind — moving air
  15. temple — a place of worship
  16. wax — to grow
  17. cold — not warm
  18. wax — for sculpting
  19. cold — an illness
  20. net — after costs
  21. field — farmland
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. squash — to crush

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