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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. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. Have you found your soul ________________?
  5. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  6. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  7. He works in a ________________ mill.
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  17. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  18. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  19. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  20. She's very handy with a ________________.
  21. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  22. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  23. Have you settled on a ________________?
  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. file — a tool
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. prune — to trim
  4. mate — a partner
  5. date — the fruit
  6. mate — to breed
  7. saw — the tool
  8. prune — to trim
  9. lash — to lash out
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. lash — an eyelash
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. bat — the animal
  15. file — a line of people
  16. mate — a friend
  17. saw — past of 'see'
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. wax — for sculpting
  20. saw — the tool
  21. wax — to grow
  22. lash — a whip stroke
  23. date — on the calendar
  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