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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 116 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 difference between broth and ________________?
  2. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  6. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  7. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  12. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  13. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. The ________________ market has crashed.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. The moon will ________________ and wane.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — a soup base
  2. file — a line of people
  3. band — a ring
  4. march — the month
  5. squash — the sport
  6. current — electric
  7. cap — of ice
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. cap — a lid
  10. stock — goods
  11. cap — a hat
  12. wax — for sculpting
  13. current — happening now
  14. band — a music group
  15. current — of water
  16. squash — to crush
  17. file — a tool
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. march — the month
  20. wax — in the ear
  21. march — music
  22. stock — shares
  23. file — a document
  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