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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 pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  3. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  9. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  14. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  19. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  20. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  21. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. file — a document
  3. wax — in the ear
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. wave — of the sea
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. field — for sport
  8. rest — a break
  9. pitch — a sales talk
  10. file — a tool
  11. pitch — completely
  12. game — a match
  13. wave — with your hand
  14. rest — what's left
  15. field — a subject
  16. file — a line of people
  17. field — farmland
  18. pitch — a sports field
  19. wave — a sudden rise
  20. wax — to grow
  21. rest — what's left
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. wax — for sculpting
  24. bat — the animal

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