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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 116 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. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. The ________________ market has crashed.
  17. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. stock — goods
  3. net — for catching
  4. net — in sport
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. drill — the tool
  8. file — a line of people
  9. wax — for sculpting
  10. net — after costs
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. stock — a soup base
  13. drill — a practice
  14. present — there
  15. drill — army training
  16. stock — shares
  17. present — the time now
  18. file — a tool
  19. present — a gift
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. file — a document
  22. wax — in the ear
  23. bat — the animal
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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