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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. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  3. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. We're on a ________________ here.
  8. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  9. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  10. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  11. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  14. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. The ________________ went through the wall.
  17. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  18. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  19. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  22. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  23. How do you ________________ your surname?
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. spell — magic
  3. nail — for a hammer
  4. file — a tool
  5. cold — an illness
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. roll — on a roll
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. spell — a short time
  11. wake — to stop sleeping
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. wax — for sculpting
  14. nail — on a finger
  15. cold — not warm
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. roll — a cake
  18. roll — a list
  19. wake — a trail
  20. file — a document
  21. wax — to grow
  22. fan — to cool the air
  23. spell — letters
  24. file — a line of people

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