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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: wind · drill · current · file · wax · root · wound · chest

  1. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  2. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  3. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  8. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  14. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — a practice
  2. current — of water
  3. drill — the tool
  4. file — a document
  5. current — electric
  6. wind — moving air
  7. drill — army training
  8. current — happening now
  9. chest — of your body
  10. wax — in the ear
  11. wax — to grow
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. root — of a word
  14. root — of a plant
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. chest — of your body
  17. file — a line of people
  18. wind — moving air
  19. file — a tool
  20. root — the cause
  21. wound — an injury
  22. chest — a box
  23. wax — for sculpting
  24. wound — an injury

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