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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
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: wax · field · content · squash · swing · chair · fall · season

  1. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  17. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  18. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  21. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  22. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  23. Did you ________________ the meat?
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. content — happy
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. chair — a leader
  5. fall — the season
  6. field — for sport
  7. field — farmland
  8. swing — music
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. fall — to drop
  12. swing — to play on
  13. squash — the sport
  14. content — the amount
  15. squash — to crush
  16. squash — the vegetable
  17. wax — in the ear
  18. season — in sport
  19. field — a subject
  20. wax — for sculpting
  21. fall — to drop
  22. wax — to grow
  23. season — to add flavour
  24. swing — in golf

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