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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. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  2. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  5. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  9. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  10. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  15. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  16. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  17. Where did you ________________ them?
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  24. He keeps ________________ of his days.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. track — a song
  3. march — the month
  4. mug — a face
  5. bass — low music
  6. file — a line of people
  7. tear — to rip
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. track — a path
  10. bass — the fish
  11. march — the month
  12. mug — a cup
  13. march — music
  14. wax — to grow
  15. wax — for sculpting
  16. perch — the fish
  17. mug — to rob
  18. tear — from crying
  19. wax — in the ear
  20. tear — from crying
  21. file — a tool
  22. file — a document
  23. bass — the instrument
  24. track — to keep track

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