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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. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  9. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  10. David sat on the ________________.
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  14. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  15. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  21. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  22. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  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. wax — in the ear
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. rock — to move gently
  4. file — a tool
  5. file — a document
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. swing — music
  9. rock — music
  10. swing — to play on
  11. wound — an injury
  12. fall — to drop
  13. staff — employees
  14. fall — to drop
  15. staff — a stick
  16. bat — the animal
  17. fall — the season
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. wound — an injury
  20. wax — to grow
  21. staff — employees
  22. rock — a stone
  23. swing — in golf
  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