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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. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  8. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  9. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  10. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  11. The light ________________ burned out.
  12. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  13. I've got to change the light ________________.
  14. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  15. The ________________ market has crashed.
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  22. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  23. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  24. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — the tool
  2. bat — the animal
  3. squash — the sport
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. wax — to grow
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. wax — in the ear
  8. present — a gift
  9. present — there
  10. squash — to crush
  11. bulb — for light
  12. stock — goods
  13. bulb — for light
  14. wax — for sculpting
  15. stock — shares
  16. drill — a practice
  17. squash — the vegetable
  18. file — a document
  19. file — a tool
  20. file — a line of people
  21. drill — army training
  22. stock — a soup base
  23. present — the time now
  24. bulb — of a plant

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