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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. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  2. You don't need to ________________ round.
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  7. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  8. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. We're almost out of ________________.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. When was this ________________ built?
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. file — a document
  2. pop — to visit
  3. wax — to grow
  4. temple — side of the head
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. temple — a place of worship
  7. pop — music
  8. wax — in the ear
  9. tear — from crying
  10. file — a tool
  11. clip — for paper
  12. pop — soda
  13. clip — to cut
  14. file — a line of people
  15. tear — to rip
  16. temple — a place of worship
  17. ground — the earth
  18. wax — for sculpting
  19. tear — from crying
  20. cell — in biology
  21. ground — a position
  22. clip — a video
  23. ground — crushed
  24. cell — a phone

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