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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 120 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. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  5. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  6. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  9. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  18. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  19. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. hand — in cards
  4. lean — thin
  5. lean — to rest against
  6. lean — to bend
  7. file — a document
  8. track — a path
  9. mouse — for a computer
  10. mine — for digging
  11. wax — to grow
  12. file — a line of people
  13. net — in sport
  14. mouse — the animal
  15. file — a tool
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. track — a song
  18. wax — for sculpting
  19. mouse — the animal
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. net — for catching
  23. track — to keep track
  24. hand — help

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