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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 120 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 moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  16. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  17. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. net — in sport
  4. hand — in cards
  5. track — a path
  6. net — for catching
  7. net — after costs
  8. track — a song
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. wax — for sculpting
  11. hand — help
  12. file — a line of people
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. can — a tin
  16. can — to be able to
  17. wax — in the ear
  18. file — a document
  19. can — a tin
  20. file — a tool
  21. row — a line
  22. track — to keep track
  23. bat — the animal
  24. row — to paddle

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