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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: pit · race · hand · field · content · wake · wax · season

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  5. Did you ________________ the meat?
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  10. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  18. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  19. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  20. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. pit — a fruit stone
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. wake — before a funeral
  5. season — to add flavour
  6. hand — help
  7. race — the arms race
  8. wake — a trail
  9. season — of the year
  10. pit — a hole
  11. hand — in cards
  12. field — for sport
  13. wax — to grow
  14. race — a contest
  15. wax — for sculpting
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. pit — in a race
  18. wake — to stop sleeping
  19. wax — in the ear
  20. season — in sport
  21. field — farmland
  22. race — humankind
  23. field — a subject
  24. content — the amount

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