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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 moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. She's very handy with a ________________.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. He works in a ________________ mill.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  15. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  20. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. saw — the tool
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. wound — an injury
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. saw — the tool
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. bat — the animal
  10. file — a line of people
  11. wind — moving air
  12. file — a document
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. pit — in a race
  15. saw — past of 'see'
  16. prune — to trim
  17. pit — a fruit stone
  18. file — a tool
  19. pit — a hole
  20. prune — to trim
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. wax — in the ear
  23. wind — moving air
  24. wound — an injury

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