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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 116 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. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  2. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  6. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  7. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  21. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — a short time
  2. spell — magic
  3. file — a document
  4. chair — a leader
  5. scale — in music
  6. scale — size or range
  7. wax — for sculpting
  8. wax — to grow
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. wax — in the ear
  12. game — a match
  13. shower — to wash
  14. chair — a professorship
  15. spell — letters
  16. file — a line of people
  17. game — wild animals
  18. file — a tool
  19. shower — rain
  20. wake — before a funeral
  21. wake — to stop sleeping
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. chair — to sit on
  24. wake — a trail

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