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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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Word bank
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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. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  4. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  5. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  9. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  22. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. kid — child
  3. wax — for sculpting
  4. jam — to spread on bread
  5. leaves — to go away
  6. cell — a phone
  7. file — a document
  8. leaves — lets stay
  9. wax — in the ear
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. file — a tool
  12. bat — the animal
  13. leaves — of a tree
  14. kid — to tease
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. jam — in traffic
  17. wind — moving air
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. wax — to grow
  22. jam — a tight spot
  23. file — a line of people
  24. cell — in biology

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