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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. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  2. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  10. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  16. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  17. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  22. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  23. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  24. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — to move gently
  2. toast — bread
  3. ground — a position
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. file — a line of people
  6. file — a tool
  7. rock — music
  8. ground — crushed
  9. craft — a handicraft
  10. craft — boats
  11. wax — to grow
  12. clip — to cut
  13. rock — a stone
  14. clip — for paper
  15. chip — to eat
  16. wax — in the ear
  17. craft — a skill
  18. ground — the earth
  19. clip — a video
  20. file — a document
  21. toast — a drink to someone
  22. toast — the most admired
  23. chip — in a computer
  24. chip — for betting

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