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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 museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  3. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  6. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  9. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  10. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  14. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  15. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  16. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  17. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  18. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  19. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. file — a document
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. staff — employees
  6. staff — employees
  7. cold — not warm
  8. staff — a stick
  9. cap — a lid
  10. cue — a signal
  11. file — a tool
  12. march — the month
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. cue — a hint
  15. cap — of ice
  16. cap — a hat
  17. perch — the fish
  18. cue — for pool
  19. wax — in the ear
  20. march — music
  21. wax — to grow
  22. cold — an illness
  23. file — a line of people
  24. march — the month

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