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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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Word bank
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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: bat · pass · file · hand · spring · wax · tube · lie

  1. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  16. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. I'll be taking the ________________.
  19. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  20. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  21. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  22. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. file — a line of people
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. spring — a coil
  6. tube — in a tire
  7. hand — help
  8. spring — of water
  9. pass — to succeed
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. spring — the season
  12. pass — to spend time
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. bat — the animal
  15. lie — to recline
  16. lie — an untruth
  17. file — a document
  18. tube — the underground
  19. wax — to grow
  20. tube — a container
  21. pass — a permit
  22. lie — an untruth
  23. hand — in cards
  24. file — a tool

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