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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. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  4. Have you settled on a ________________?
  5. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  6. The light ________________ burned out.
  7. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  13. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  14. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. I've got to change the light ________________.
  22. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  23. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  24. Let us try to swim against the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a committee
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. current — happening now
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. wax — for sculpting
  6. bulb — for light
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. shower — to wash
  9. cold — not warm
  10. cold — an illness
  11. file — a line of people
  12. bulb — of a plant
  13. current — electric
  14. board — a flat piece
  15. shower — rain
  16. file — a document
  17. file — a tool
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. date — the fruit
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. bulb — for light
  22. board — to get on
  23. wax — to grow
  24. current — of water

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