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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 120 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. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  12. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. The tickets are free of ________________.
  19. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. Where can I ________________ my mobile?

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. tear — from crying
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. file — a line of people
  6. shower — rain
  7. wax — to grow
  8. field — a subject
  9. wax — for sculpting
  10. file — a tool
  11. perch — the fish
  12. rock — a stone
  13. field — for sport
  14. charge — in control
  15. file — a document
  16. rock — to move gently
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. charge — a price
  19. wax — in the ear
  20. tear — to rip
  21. tear — from crying
  22. field — farmland
  23. shower — to wash
  24. charge — electricity

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