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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 120 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. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  7. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  8. When was this ________________ built?
  9. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  13. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  14. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  15. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  16. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  17. This piece is in a major ________________.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  20. I'll be taking the ________________.
  21. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — a container
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. land — to come down
  4. key — the most important part
  5. land — ground
  6. key — for a lock
  7. wax — for sculpting
  8. temple — a place of worship
  9. temple — side of the head
  10. spell — letters
  11. file — a document
  12. temple — a place of worship
  13. spell — magic
  14. tube — in a tire
  15. pit — a hole
  16. wax — to grow
  17. key — in music
  18. land — a country
  19. spell — a short time
  20. tube — the underground
  21. pit — a fruit stone
  22. file — a line of people
  23. file — a tool
  24. pit — in a race

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