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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. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  8. Have you found your soul ________________?
  9. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  10. My mare is ________________ in color.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  14. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  15. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  16. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  24. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. wax — to grow
  5. court — for sport
  6. file — a document
  7. drill — the tool
  8. mate — a partner
  9. mate — a friend
  10. bay — a horse colour
  11. file — a line of people
  12. court — of law
  13. squash — to crush
  14. mate — to breed
  15. bay — to keep at bay
  16. squash — the vegetable
  17. drill — army training
  18. file — a tool
  19. squash — the sport
  20. drill — a practice
  21. snap — to speak sharply
  22. court — of a king
  23. wax — in the ear
  24. bay — a part of the sea

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