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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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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: toast · band · field · deal · file · wax · wind · ground

  1. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  11. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  23. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  24. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. wax — to grow
  3. toast — a drink to someone
  4. ground — a position
  5. ground — crushed
  6. band — a music group
  7. field — a subject
  8. wind — moving air
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. deal — to handle
  11. toast — bread
  12. file — a document
  13. deal — an agreement
  14. wind — moving air
  15. field — farmland
  16. file — a tool
  17. wax — for sculpting
  18. band — a ring
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. ground — the earth
  21. file — a line of people
  22. wax — in the ear
  23. toast — the most admired
  24. deal — a big deal

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