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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  6. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  7. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  8. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  13. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  16. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  21. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. Have you met the new head ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. racket — a loud noise
  3. wax — to grow
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. dip — a sauce
  6. dip — to sink
  7. dip — to dunk
  8. mark — a trace
  9. file — a tool
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. file — a document
  12. coach — pulled by horses
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. mark — to pay attention
  17. file — a line of people
  18. mark — a grade
  19. ground — a position
  20. wax — for sculpting
  21. ground — crushed
  22. ground — the earth
  23. kid — child
  24. coach — a trainer

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