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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. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. My mare is ________________ in color.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  19. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  24. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. file — a document
  3. mine — for digging
  4. band — a ring
  5. file — a line of people
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. band — a music group
  8. bay — a part of the sea
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. bay — to keep at bay
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. file — a tool
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. bay — a horse colour
  15. clip — a video
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. clip — to cut
  18. vault — an arched ceiling
  19. wax — in the ear
  20. clip — for paper
  21. wax — to grow
  22. bark — to shout
  23. vault — a safe
  24. vault — in gymnastics

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