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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. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  2. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  4. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  5. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  8. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  9. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  20. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  21. Have you settled on a ________________?
  22. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  23. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  24. The train ________________ at six o'clock.

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

Answer key

  1. can — a tin
  2. wax — to grow
  3. date — the fruit
  4. leaves — of a tree
  5. can — to be able to
  6. file — a line of people
  7. pound — a weight
  8. pound — for dogs
  9. pound — to hit hard
  10. file — a document
  11. kid — to tease
  12. leaves — lets stay
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. cold — an illness
  15. kid — child
  16. file — a tool
  17. cold — not warm
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. wax — for sculpting
  20. can — a tin
  21. date — on the calendar
  22. wax — in the ear
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. leaves — to go away

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