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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 116 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: ball · field · wax · hand · march · fan · wave · season

  1. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  6. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  9. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. Did you ________________ the meat?
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  17. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  18. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  21. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  22. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  23. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  24. The King held a masked ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. hand — in cards
  3. season — in sport
  4. field — farmland
  5. ball — a great time
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. hand — help
  8. wave — a sudden rise
  9. ball — a round shape
  10. field — for sport
  11. march — the month
  12. season — to add flavour
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. march — the month
  15. field — a subject
  16. wax — to grow
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. wave — with your hand
  19. march — music
  20. wave — of the sea
  21. wax — in the ear
  22. wax — for sculpting
  23. fan — to cool the air
  24. ball — a dance

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