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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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  5. He is an ace ________________.
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  11. My mare is ________________ in color.
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  15. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  16. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  19. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  20. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  21. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  22. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  23. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  24. The moon will ________________ and wane.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. stem — to come from
  5. pitcher — in baseball
  6. drill — the tool
  7. season — in sport
  8. file — a tool
  9. file — a line of people
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. bay — a horse colour
  12. drill — a practice
  13. file — a document
  14. stem — a stem cell
  15. bay — to keep at bay
  16. stem — of a plant
  17. drill — army training
  18. fork — to eat with
  19. fork — in a road
  20. wax — in the ear
  21. season — of the year
  22. bay — a part of the sea
  23. fork — a garden tool
  24. wax — to grow

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