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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. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. I've got to change the light ________________.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  14. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. We're on a ________________ here.
  21. The light ________________ burned out.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. roll — a cake
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. bulb — for light
  5. file — a document
  6. last — finally
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. last — to go on
  9. hand — in cards
  10. snap — to click
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. file — a line of people
  13. wax — for sculpting
  14. roll — a list
  15. file — a tool
  16. wax — to grow
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. bulb — of a plant
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. roll — on a roll
  21. bulb — for light
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. hand — help
  24. last — final

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