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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. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  3. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  4. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. David sat on the ________________.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  10. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  13. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. The moon will ________________ and wane.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. chip — to eat
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. swing — music
  5. file — a line of people
  6. file — a tool
  7. swing — to play on
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. wax — for sculpting
  11. band — a music group
  12. swing — in golf
  13. chip — for betting
  14. shower — rain
  15. patient — calm and waiting
  16. band — a ring
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. file — a document
  19. game — wild animals
  20. chip — in a computer
  21. game — a match
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. shower — to wash
  24. wax — to grow

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