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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 stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  14. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  22. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  23. David sat on the ________________.
  24. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. field — for sport
  3. swing — music
  4. file — a document
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. row — a line
  8. current — electric
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. file — a line of people
  11. vault — a safe
  12. field — farmland
  13. swing — in golf
  14. wax — to grow
  15. row — to paddle
  16. wound — an injury
  17. current — happening now
  18. field — a subject
  19. file — a tool
  20. wound — an injury
  21. vault — in gymnastics
  22. current — of water
  23. swing — to play on
  24. vault — an arched ceiling

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