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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: pit · wax · file · cell · wind · bore

  1. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  2. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  3. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  15. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — to tire
  2. bore — to drill
  3. wax — for sculpting
  4. file — a tool
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. pit — a hole
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. pit — a fruit stone
  9. cell — a phone
  10. wax — to grow
  11. cell — in biology
  12. file — a document
  13. file — a line of people
  14. wax — in the ear
  15. pit — in a race
  16. wind — moving air
  17. bore — gave birth
  18. wind — moving air

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