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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: bat · rash · wind · wax · kick · field · row · last

  1. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. Don't do anything ________________.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  24. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. field — farmland
  3. rash — on the skin
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. field — for sport
  6. row — to paddle
  7. rash — hasty
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. last — final
  10. kick — with a leg
  11. row — a line
  12. rash — a series
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. field — a subject
  15. wax — to grow
  16. last — to go on
  17. kick — a thrill
  18. last — finally
  19. wax — in the ear
  20. bat — the animal
  21. wind — moving air
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. kick — in football
  24. wax — for sculpting

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