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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. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  8. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  11. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  12. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  13. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  14. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  15. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  16. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  19. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  20. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  21. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  22. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.

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

Answer key

  1. present — the time now
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. cold — not warm
  4. file — a line of people
  5. bark — to shout
  6. file — a document
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. wave — a sudden rise
  9. cold — an illness
  10. wax — for sculpting
  11. bark — a dog's sound
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. wax — to grow
  14. wave — of the sea
  15. present — there
  16. wave — with your hand
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. present — a gift
  19. rule — a law
  20. bark — of a tree
  21. fan — to cool the air
  22. rule — government
  23. file — a tool
  24. rule — to rule out

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