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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
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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: field · wax · mine · land · stock · degree · tube · toast

  1. When are we going to ________________?
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. I'll be taking the ________________.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. The ________________ market has crashed.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  13. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  19. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. tube — the underground
  5. field — a subject
  6. stock — shares
  7. degree — temperature
  8. land — a country
  9. stock — goods
  10. mine — for digging
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. toast — the most admired
  13. tube — a container
  14. field — farmland
  15. field — for sport
  16. wax — to grow
  17. degree — from a university
  18. wax — for sculpting
  19. toast — a drink to someone
  20. degree — an amount
  21. toast — bread
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. tube — in a tire
  24. land — ground

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