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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. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  2. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  9. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  10. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  17. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  18. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. bowl — a dish
  3. field — a subject
  4. track — to keep track
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. cell — a phone
  7. wax — to grow
  8. can — a tin
  9. bowl — a football final
  10. can — a tin
  11. file — a tool
  12. track — a song
  13. shower — rain
  14. file — a line of people
  15. cell — in biology
  16. wax — for sculpting
  17. can — to be able to
  18. track — a path
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. shower — to wash
  21. field — for sport
  22. wax — in the ear
  23. file — a document
  24. field — farmland

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