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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. Where did you ________________ them?
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  8. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  9. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  12. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  13. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  17. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. I play ________________ in a jazz band.

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

Answer key

  1. mug — to rob
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. bass — low music
  5. wax — for sculpting
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. mug — a cup
  8. bowl — a dish
  9. fork — a garden tool
  10. file — a line of people
  11. bowl — a football final
  12. bass — the fish
  13. fork — in a road
  14. cold — an illness
  15. file — a document
  16. mug — a face
  17. bowl — to roll
  18. cold — not warm
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. wax — to grow
  21. mine — for digging
  22. fork — to eat with
  23. file — a tool
  24. bass — the instrument

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