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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  7. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  8. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  9. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  14. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  15. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  18. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — to eat with
  2. kid — child
  3. file — a line of people
  4. kid — to tease
  5. file — a tool
  6. wax — to grow
  7. fork — in a road
  8. scale — for weighing
  9. pound — for dogs
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. scale — in music
  12. file — a document
  13. wax — for sculpting
  14. wax — in the ear
  15. fork — a garden tool
  16. scale — size or range
  17. pound — to hit hard
  18. pound — a weight

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