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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. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. When was this ________________ built?
  3. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  4. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  5. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  6. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  10. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  11. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  12. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  13. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  14. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  15. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  16. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  17. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. How do you ________________ your surname?
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. wax — in the ear
  4. deal — an agreement
  5. temple — a place of worship
  6. spell — magic
  7. court — of a king
  8. court — for sport
  9. root — the cause
  10. deal — a big deal
  11. root — of a plant
  12. temple — side of the head
  13. wave — a sudden rise
  14. root — of a word
  15. wax — for sculpting
  16. deal — to handle
  17. wave — of the sea
  18. court — of law
  19. wax — to grow
  20. file — a document
  21. file — a line of people
  22. spell — letters
  23. spell — a short time
  24. wave — with your hand

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