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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  5. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  6. When will it ________________ you to start?
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  12. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  13. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. When was this ________________ built?
  20. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  21. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. shower — to wash
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. wax — to grow
  5. suit — in cards
  6. suit — to fit
  7. file — a tool
  8. land — a country
  9. temple — a place of worship
  10. file — a line of people
  11. temple — side of the head
  12. wax — for sculpting
  13. wax — in the ear
  14. file — a document
  15. shower — rain
  16. land — ground
  17. present — a gift
  18. kid — child
  19. temple — a place of worship
  20. present — there
  21. present — the time now
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. suit — clothes
  24. land — to come down

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