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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. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  8. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  12. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  13. The ________________ went through the wall.
  14. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  15. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  16. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  17. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  21. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. trunk — of a tree
  3. file — a document
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. nail — for a hammer
  6. file — a line of people
  7. trunk — of an elephant
  8. fine — a penalty
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. wax — for sculpting
  12. fine — high quality
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. fine — all right
  15. trunk — of a car
  16. wax — to grow
  17. patient — calm and waiting
  18. capital — money
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. nail — on a finger
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. capital — a city
  23. bat — the animal
  24. patient — a sick person

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