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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: season · cold · wax · key · board · field · land · ball

  1. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  7. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  8. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  9. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  13. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  14. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  15. The King held a masked ________________.
  16. This piece is in a major ________________.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  20. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  21. Did you ________________ the meat?
  22. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a round shape
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. cold — not warm
  4. board — a committee
  5. land — to come down
  6. board — to get on
  7. season — in sport
  8. ball — a great time
  9. board — a flat piece
  10. land — ground
  11. land — a country
  12. key — for a lock
  13. season — of the year
  14. key — the most important part
  15. ball — a dance
  16. key — in music
  17. field — farmland
  18. field — a subject
  19. wax — to grow
  20. wax — in the ear
  21. season — to add flavour
  22. wax — for sculpting
  23. cold — an illness
  24. field — for sport

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