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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. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  7. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  10. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  11. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  12. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  13. He is an ace ________________.
  14. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  18. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. Have you found your soul ________________?
  21. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  22. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  23. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  24. The moon will ________________ and wane.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. mate — a friend
  3. file — a line of people
  4. hand — help
  5. hand — in cards
  6. track — a path
  7. scale — size or range
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. track — to keep track
  10. mate — to breed
  11. wax — for sculpting
  12. track — a song
  13. pitcher — in baseball
  14. scale — in music
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. file — a tool
  17. deal — an agreement
  18. wax — in the ear
  19. file — a document
  20. mate — a partner
  21. deal — to handle
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. deal — a big deal
  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