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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. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  7. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  8. The tickets are free of ________________.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  11. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  12. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  18. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  19. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  22. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. present — a gift
  3. shower — rain
  4. present — there
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. wax — to grow
  7. bank — for money
  8. charge — a price
  9. cold — an illness
  10. charge — electricity
  11. rest — a break
  12. present — the time now
  13. shower — to wash
  14. file — a tool
  15. rest — what's left
  16. file — a line of people
  17. bank — for money
  18. bank — of a river
  19. wax — in the ear
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. rest — what's left
  22. charge — in control
  23. file — a document
  24. wax — for sculpting

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