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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 pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  7. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  8. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  9. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  14. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  15. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  16. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  17. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  23. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  24. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. wax — to grow
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. file — a document
  5. file — a tool
  6. vault — a safe
  7. vault — an arched ceiling
  8. scale — size or range
  9. mark — to pay attention
  10. file — a line of people
  11. cold — an illness
  12. cold — not warm
  13. wax — for sculpting
  14. mark — a grade
  15. wax — in the ear
  16. scale — for weighing
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. game — a match
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. racket — a loud noise
  21. scale — in music
  22. mark — a trace
  23. racket — for tennis
  24. vault — in gymnastics

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