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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 water is too ________________.
  2. The ________________ went through the wall.
  3. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  6. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  11. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  12. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  16. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  17. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. We're on a ________________ here.
  20. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  21. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  22. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  23. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  24. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. nail — for a hammer
  3. pitch — a sports field
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. pitch — a sales talk
  6. wax — for sculpting
  7. file — a document
  8. cold — an illness
  9. file — a tool
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. wake — to stop sleeping
  12. wake — before a funeral
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. roll — a cake
  16. roll — a list
  17. wake — a trail
  18. file — a line of people
  19. roll — on a roll
  20. wax — to grow
  21. nail — on a finger
  22. wax — in the ear
  23. pitch — completely
  24. bark — to shout

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