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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. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  5. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  18. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — the season
  2. file — a tool
  3. file — a document
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. wax — to grow
  6. prune — to trim
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. row — a line
  9. content — the amount
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. wax — for sculpting
  12. content — happy
  13. file — a line of people
  14. racket — a loud noise
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. fall — to drop
  18. fall — to drop
  19. prune — to trim
  20. row — to paddle
  21. mine — for digging
  22. wax — in the ear
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. mine — an explosive

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