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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: wax · pop · chest · spell · field · arm · mine · mark

  1. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  5. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. My father caught me by the ________________.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. You don't need to ________________ round.
  10. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. We're almost out of ________________.
  19. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  20. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  21. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. spell — letters
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. mark — a grade
  5. spell — a short time
  6. pop — music
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. chest — of your body
  9. pop — to visit
  10. wax — to grow
  11. chest — of your body
  12. mine — for digging
  13. field — a subject
  14. mark — to pay attention
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. mark — a trace
  17. field — for sport
  18. pop — soda
  19. arm — part of the body
  20. arm — a part of something
  21. spell — magic
  22. field — farmland
  23. wax — for sculpting
  24. chest — a box

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