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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. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  10. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  13. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  14. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  17. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  24. That must've been a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. bank — for money
  3. ground — crushed
  4. file — a document
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. squash — to crush
  7. file — a line of people
  8. wax — to grow
  9. rush — to hurry
  10. wax — for sculpting
  11. shower — rain
  12. bore — to tire
  13. squash — the vegetable
  14. rush — hurry
  15. file — a tool
  16. bank — of a river
  17. bore — to drill
  18. ground — the earth
  19. ground — a position
  20. bore — gave birth
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. shower — to wash
  23. bank — for money
  24. rush — a thrill

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