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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. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  4. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  5. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  6. That was ________________ to happen.
  7. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  20. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  21. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  22. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  23. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  24. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. cold — an illness
  3. wake — to stop sleeping
  4. wax — to grow
  5. wake — a trail
  6. bound — certain
  7. root — of a plant
  8. file — a line of people
  9. file — a document
  10. bound — tied together
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. wax — in the ear
  13. bat — the animal
  14. wax — for sculpting
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. craft — a handicraft
  18. cold — not warm
  19. bound — obliged
  20. root — the cause
  21. root — of a word
  22. craft — boats
  23. craft — a skill
  24. wake — before a funeral

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