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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. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  7. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  15. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  19. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  20. The ________________ market has crashed.
  21. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  22. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  23. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  24. I would like to have a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. jam — to spread on bread
  2. kid — child
  3. rest — what's left
  4. file — a line of people
  5. file — a tool
  6. stock — goods
  7. wax — in the ear
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. jam — a tight spot
  10. clip — a video
  11. file — a document
  12. clip — to cut
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. track — to keep track
  15. stock — a soup base
  16. kid — to tease
  17. clip — for paper
  18. track — a song
  19. jam — in traffic
  20. stock — shares
  21. wax — to grow
  22. track — a path
  23. rest — what's left
  24. rest — a break

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