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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: straw · craft · pop · wax · ground · staff · field · spring

  1. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  7. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  8. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. We're almost out of ________________.
  13. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  17. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  21. You don't need to ________________ round.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. field — for sport
  3. spring — the season
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. ground — the earth
  6. staff — a stick
  7. wax — in the ear
  8. craft — a handicraft
  9. field — farmland
  10. staff — employees
  11. ground — a position
  12. pop — soda
  13. craft — boats
  14. ground — crushed
  15. spring — of water
  16. pop — music
  17. wax — to grow
  18. spring — a coil
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. craft — a skill
  21. pop — to visit
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. wax — for sculpting
  24. field — a subject

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