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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. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  2. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  3. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. My father caught me by the ________________.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  18. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  19. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  23. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  24. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?

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

Answer key

  1. board — a committee
  2. fan — to cool the air
  3. tube — in a tire
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. net — in sport
  6. wax — to grow
  7. cold — an illness
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. file — a tool
  11. board — to get on
  12. tube — the underground
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. file — a document
  15. tube — a container
  16. cold — not warm
  17. net — after costs
  18. arm — a part of something
  19. board — a flat piece
  20. net — for catching
  21. file — a line of people
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. fan — a supporter

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