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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. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  3. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  13. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  14. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  15. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  16. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. The King held a masked ________________.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. The kitten curled into a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. file — a document
  3. pitch — a sales talk
  4. tear — from crying
  5. wax — for sculpting
  6. wind — moving air
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. file — a line of people
  9. bat — the animal
  10. wind — moving air
  11. wax — to grow
  12. pitch — completely
  13. calf — a young animal
  14. wax — in the ear
  15. calf — of the leg
  16. calf — a young animal
  17. tear — from crying
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. ball — a dance
  20. tear — to rip
  21. pitch — a sports field
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. file — a tool
  24. ball — a round shape

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