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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. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  6. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  7. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  8. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  9. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  10. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  11. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  12. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  13. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  14. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  15. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  18. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  19. The ________________ went through the wall.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  23. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. swing — to play on
  3. wound — an injury
  4. file — a tool
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. club — for dancing
  7. nail — on a finger
  8. swing — in golf
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. root — of a word
  12. club — for golf
  13. club — a group
  14. perch — the fish
  15. swing — music
  16. file — a line of people
  17. wax — for sculpting
  18. wax — to grow
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. wound — an injury
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. root — of a plant
  23. root — the cause
  24. file — a document

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