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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: last · chair · field · wax · hide · craft · land · file

  1. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  2. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  20. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  24. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. craft — a handicraft
  3. file — a line of people
  4. last — final
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. field — farmland
  7. land — to come down
  8. hide — animal skin
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. chair — a leader
  11. field — a subject
  12. craft — boats
  13. last — to go on
  14. last — finally
  15. chair — to sit on
  16. land — a country
  17. land — ground
  18. file — a document
  19. craft — a skill
  20. hide — to keep secret
  21. field — for sport
  22. file — a tool
  23. wax — to grow
  24. wax — for sculpting

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