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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. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  3. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  8. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  13. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  22. The ________________ took off on time.
  23. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  24. The moon will ________________ and wane.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. racket — a loud noise
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. race — a contest
  6. file — a line of people
  7. rock — a stone
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. mate — a friend
  11. race — the arms race
  12. plane — in geometry
  13. plane — a tool
  14. file — a tool
  15. content — happy
  16. rock — music
  17. file — a document
  18. wax — for sculpting
  19. race — humankind
  20. content — the amount
  21. rock — to move gently
  22. plane — an aircraft
  23. mate — to breed
  24. wax — to grow

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