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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. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  7. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  8. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  9. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  10. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  11. That must've been a ________________.
  12. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. How do you ________________ your surname?
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  19. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  20. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  21. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. dip — to dunk
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. spell — magic
  5. cell — in biology
  6. spell — a short time
  7. wax — in the ear
  8. rush — to hurry
  9. wax — to grow
  10. rock — to move gently
  11. rush — a thrill
  12. rock — music
  13. drill — the tool
  14. spell — letters
  15. drill — a practice
  16. file — a tool
  17. cell — a phone
  18. wax — for sculpting
  19. dip — to sink
  20. dip — a sauce
  21. rock — a stone
  22. file — a document
  23. drill — army training
  24. file — a line of people

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