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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 do you think of the new ________________?
  2. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  10. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  18. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  19. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — ministers
  2. cabinet — a cupboard
  3. file — a tool
  4. drill — a practice
  5. wax — to grow
  6. file — a line of people
  7. cabinet — ministers
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. bass — the fish
  10. pitch — completely
  11. field — farmland
  12. pitch — a sales talk
  13. file — a document
  14. spring — of water
  15. drill — army training
  16. drill — the tool
  17. wax — in the ear
  18. bass — low music
  19. pitch — a sports field
  20. field — for sport
  21. spring — a coil
  22. spring — the season
  23. bass — the instrument
  24. field — a subject

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