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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. She's very handy with a ________________.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  5. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. He works in a ________________ mill.
  9. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  13. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  21. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  22. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. saw — the tool
  3. field — for sport
  4. bark — to shout
  5. saw — past of 'see'
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. field — farmland
  8. saw — the tool
  9. drill — the tool
  10. file — a line of people
  11. net — after costs
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. wax — for sculpting
  14. file — a document
  15. net — for catching
  16. drill — army training
  17. net — in sport
  18. wax — to grow
  19. drill — a practice
  20. wax — in the ear
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. fan — to cool the air
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. field — a subject

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