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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: rash · bay · swing · spell · file · kick · chest · wax

  1. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. Don't do anything ________________.
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  8. My mare is ________________ in color.
  9. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  21. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  22. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  24. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. kick — with a leg
  3. spell — letters
  4. file — a tool
  5. rash — hasty
  6. swing — to play on
  7. rash — on the skin
  8. bay — a horse colour
  9. swing — in golf
  10. spell — magic
  11. file — a line of people
  12. bay — to keep at bay
  13. chest — a box
  14. swing — music
  15. chest — of your body
  16. spell — a short time
  17. kick — in football
  18. file — a document
  19. chest — of your body
  20. kick — a thrill
  21. wax — in the ear
  22. wax — to grow
  23. rash — a series
  24. bay — a part of the sea

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