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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: rush · season · wax · fork · race · hand · field · content

  1. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  2. That must've been a ________________.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  8. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  9. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  10. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. Did you ________________ the meat?
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  22. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  23. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — to hurry
  2. rush — a thrill
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. fork — in a road
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. season — in sport
  8. fork — a garden tool
  9. fork — to eat with
  10. rush — hurry
  11. field — a subject
  12. content — the amount
  13. field — farmland
  14. race — a contest
  15. race — the arms race
  16. wax — for sculpting
  17. race — humankind
  18. hand — help
  19. season — to add flavour
  20. field — for sport
  21. season — of the year
  22. wax — to grow
  23. content — happy
  24. hand — in cards

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