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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've got to change the light ________________.
  2. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  7. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  10. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  13. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  14. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. The light ________________ burned out.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  20. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — for light
  2. fine — all right
  3. file — a tool
  4. fine — a penalty
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. bulb — of a plant
  7. wax — in the ear
  8. band — a ring
  9. wax — to grow
  10. track — to keep track
  11. file — a document
  12. scale — for weighing
  13. track — a song
  14. track — a path
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. bulb — for light
  17. game — a match
  18. scale — in music
  19. band — a music group
  20. wax — for sculpting
  21. file — a line of people
  22. fine — high quality
  23. game — wild animals
  24. scale — size or range

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