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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: lean · field · squash · chair · pitcher · cold · sharp · wax

  1. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. It's one o'clock ________________.
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  6. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  7. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  16. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  17. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  19. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  20. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  23. He is an ace ________________.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. sharp — exactly
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. field — for sport
  5. lean — thin
  6. chair — to sit on
  7. wax — for sculpting
  8. squash — to crush
  9. cold — an illness
  10. lean — to bend
  11. cold — not warm
  12. wax — in the ear
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. field — a subject
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. chair — a leader
  17. lean — to rest against
  18. chair — a professorship
  19. squash — the sport
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. sharp — clever
  22. squash — the vegetable
  23. pitcher — in baseball
  24. field — farmland

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