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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: wind · field · wax · root · chair · march · mug · land

  1. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  20. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. Where did you ________________ them?
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. march — the month
  3. chair — a leader
  4. land — ground
  5. march — the month
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. root — of a plant
  8. wax — to grow
  9. wind — moving air
  10. wind — moving air
  11. march — music
  12. mug — a face
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. field — for sport
  15. mug — a cup
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. root — of a word
  18. field — a subject
  19. wax — in the ear
  20. root — the cause
  21. land — a country
  22. field — farmland
  23. mug — to rob
  24. land — to come down

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