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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: cold · saw · pitcher · roll · racket · file · plane · wax

  1. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  3. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  4. The ________________ took off on time.
  5. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. He is an ace ________________.
  8. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  9. We're on a ________________ here.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. He works in a ________________ mill.
  12. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  17. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  18. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  19. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  20. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  21. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  22. She's very handy with a ________________.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. saw — past of 'see'
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. plane — an aircraft
  5. plane — in geometry
  6. file — a document
  7. pitcher — in baseball
  8. racket — a loud noise
  9. roll — on a roll
  10. file — a tool
  11. saw — the tool
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. cold — not warm
  16. wax — to grow
  17. roll — a cake
  18. wax — in the ear
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. plane — a tool
  21. roll — a list
  22. saw — the tool
  23. cold — an illness
  24. file — a line of people

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