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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. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  13. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  14. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  19. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  20. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  21. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  22. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — decided
  2. march — music
  3. land — a country
  4. file — a document
  5. file — a tool
  6. root — of a word
  7. wax — to grow
  8. land — to come down
  9. land — ground
  10. firm — a company
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. root — the cause
  13. track — a path
  14. firm — steady
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. file — a line of people
  17. bat — the animal
  18. wax — in the ear
  19. track — a song
  20. wax — for sculpting
  21. track — to keep track
  22. root — of a plant
  23. march — the month
  24. march — the month

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