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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. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  11. The ________________ took off on time.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. Where did you ________________ them?
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  18. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  19. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  20. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  21. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  22. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  23. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  24. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. cold — an illness
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. mine — for digging
  6. file — a line of people
  7. file — a document
  8. kid — to tease
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. plane — in geometry
  11. plane — an aircraft
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. mug — to rob
  14. cold — not warm
  15. wax — to grow
  16. kid — child
  17. mug — a face
  18. wax — for sculpting
  19. wax — in the ear
  20. mug — a cup
  21. lash — to lash out
  22. lash — a whip stroke
  23. lash — an eyelash
  24. plane — a tool

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