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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. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. I'll be taking the ________________.
  4. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  5. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  16. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  17. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  18. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  19. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  20. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  21. She's very handy with a ________________.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. He works in a ________________ mill.
  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. sharp — clever
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. tube — the underground
  4. fine — high quality
  5. fine — all right
  6. file — a line of people
  7. wax — to grow
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. mark — a grade
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. field — farmland
  12. tube — in a tire
  13. field — for sport
  14. field — a subject
  15. wax — in the ear
  16. saw — past of 'see'
  17. fine — a penalty
  18. tube — a container
  19. mark — a trace
  20. mark — to pay attention
  21. saw — the tool
  22. file — a tool
  23. saw — the tool
  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