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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 120 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. There's no middle ________________.
  3. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  9. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  14. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  19. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  20. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  21. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. ground — a position
  3. club — for golf
  4. file — a tool
  5. scale — in music
  6. ground — the earth
  7. file — a line of people
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. patient — calm and waiting
  10. ground — crushed
  11. wax — for sculpting
  12. fall — to drop
  13. scale — for weighing
  14. wax — in the ear
  15. tear — from crying
  16. fall — the season
  17. tear — from crying
  18. fall — to drop
  19. scale — size or range
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. club — a group
  22. tear — to rip
  23. club — for dancing
  24. file — a document

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