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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: mate · wax · can · field · hand · fork · row · pitcher

  1. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  6. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  7. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  8. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  12. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  17. He is an ace ________________.
  18. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. Have you found your soul ________________?
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. field — farmland
  3. wax — for sculpting
  4. hand — in cards
  5. mate — to breed
  6. fork — to eat with
  7. fork — in a road
  8. can — a tin
  9. hand — help
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. wax — to grow
  13. field — for sport
  14. mate — a friend
  15. row — to paddle
  16. can — to be able to
  17. pitcher — in baseball
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. field — a subject
  20. fork — a garden tool
  21. row — a line
  22. mate — a partner
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. can — a tin

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