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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. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. This piece is in a major ________________.
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  18. Don't do anything ________________.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  22. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. key — the most important part
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. wax — to grow
  5. band — a ring
  6. prune — to trim
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. wax — in the ear
  9. shower — to wash
  10. file — a document
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. key — in music
  13. band — a music group
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. prune — to trim
  17. key — for a lock
  18. rash — hasty
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. shower — rain
  21. wax — for sculpting
  22. rash — on the skin
  23. rash — a series
  24. file — a line of people

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