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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. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  7. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  8. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  11. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  12. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  22. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. face — to confront
  3. wax — for sculpting
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. track — to keep track
  7. calf — a young animal
  8. craft — boats
  9. file — a tool
  10. wax — to grow
  11. track — a song
  12. calf — a young animal
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. craft — a skill
  15. band — a music group
  16. face — part of the head
  17. file — a document
  18. hand — help
  19. face — to point toward
  20. file — a line of people
  21. track — a path
  22. calf — of the leg
  23. hand — in cards
  24. craft — a handicraft

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