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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 116 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. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. What do you think of the new ________________?
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  11. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  21. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  22. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  24. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. file — a tool
  5. cabinet — ministers
  6. file — a line of people
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. cabinet — a cupboard
  9. mine — for digging
  10. wax — to grow
  11. wax — for sculpting
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. game — wild animals
  15. game — a match
  16. wind — moving air
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. bowl — a dish
  19. file — a document
  20. bowl — to roll
  21. wax — in the ear
  22. bowl — a football final
  23. bark — to shout
  24. cabinet — ministers

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