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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. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  3. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  4. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. Did you ________________ the button?
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  15. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  22. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. shower — a meteor shower
  3. wax — for sculpting
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. press — to push
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. staff — employees
  9. bat — the animal
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. file — a line of people
  12. fan — to cool the air
  13. land — to come down
  14. press — newspapers
  15. staff — employees
  16. land — ground
  17. land — a country
  18. press — a publisher
  19. shower — to wash
  20. file — a document
  21. staff — a stick
  22. wax — in the ear
  23. shower — rain
  24. file — a tool

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