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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 120 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: chest · field · wax · chip · mine · pit · mate · season

  1. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  4. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  5. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  6. Did you ________________ the meat?
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  9. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  10. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  15. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  18. Have you found your soul ________________?
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. There's a computer ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. field — for sport
  3. chip — for betting
  4. pit — a fruit stone
  5. season — in sport
  6. season — to add flavour
  7. wax — to grow
  8. pit — in a race
  9. pit — a hole
  10. chip — to eat
  11. chest — a box
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. field — a subject
  14. mate — to breed
  15. mate — a friend
  16. chest — of your body
  17. wax — in the ear
  18. mate — a partner
  19. field — farmland
  20. mine — for digging
  21. chest — of your body
  22. season — of the year
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. chip — in a computer

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