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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. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  4. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  5. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  6. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. My mare is ________________ in color.
  9. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  13. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  14. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  15. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  22. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  23. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  24. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.

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

Answer key

  1. track — to keep track
  2. game — a match
  3. wax — in the ear
  4. snap — to click
  5. bay — a part of the sea
  6. bowl — a dish
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. bay — a horse colour
  9. track — a song
  10. fall — to drop
  11. game — wild animals
  12. bowl — to roll
  13. bay — to keep at bay
  14. snap — to snap out of it
  15. fall — to drop
  16. file — a line of people
  17. file — a tool
  18. file — a document
  19. fall — the season
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. wax — to grow
  22. wax — for sculpting
  23. track — a path
  24. bowl — a football final

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