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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 · wax · shower · cap · net · swing · bat · field

  1. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. David sat on the ________________.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  17. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  18. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  21. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. field — a subject
  3. net — in sport
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. shower — rain
  6. cap — a hat
  7. wind — moving air
  8. swing — to play on
  9. field — farmland
  10. net — after costs
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. bat — the animal
  13. shower — to wash
  14. wax — for sculpting
  15. net — for catching
  16. wax — to grow
  17. cap — of ice
  18. swing — music
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. swing — in golf
  21. cap — a lid
  22. field — for sport
  23. wax — in the ear
  24. wind — moving air

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