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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. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  2. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  4. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. Did you ________________ the meat?
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  18. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  19. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  20. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  21. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a path
  2. wax — to grow
  3. season — in sport
  4. board — a flat piece
  5. file — a document
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. content — the amount
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. board — to get on
  10. march — the month
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. march — the month
  13. season — to add flavour
  14. content — happy
  15. track — a song
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. board — a committee
  18. season — of the year
  19. racket — a loud noise
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. track — to keep track
  22. march — music
  23. file — a tool
  24. file — a line of people

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