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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. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  6. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  7. Have you met the new head ________________?
  8. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  9. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  10. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  13. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  14. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. Have you found your soul ________________?
  19. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  22. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  23. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. fall — to drop
  3. dip — to dunk
  4. bat — the animal
  5. fall — the season
  6. mate — to breed
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. wax — in the ear
  9. drill — the tool
  10. dip — a sauce
  11. wax — to grow
  12. dip — to sink
  13. wax — for sculpting
  14. drill — army training
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. file — a line of people
  17. file — a tool
  18. mate — a partner
  19. coach — pulled by horses
  20. drill — a practice
  21. mate — a friend
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. fall — to drop
  24. file — a document

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