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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. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  4. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  16. Did you ________________ the meat?
  17. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  22. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  23. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. file — a line of people
  3. leaves — lets stay
  4. leaves — of a tree
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. wax — for sculpting
  8. wound — an injury
  9. leaves — to go away
  10. ground — the earth
  11. ground — a position
  12. file — a document
  13. last — final
  14. wound — an injury
  15. season — in sport
  16. season — to add flavour
  17. season — of the year
  18. last — to go on
  19. last — finally
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. wax — to grow
  22. ground — crushed
  23. snap — to snap out of it
  24. file — a tool

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