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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
468
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: wax · bat · swing · mate · land · file · rule · leaves

  1. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  2. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  8. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  9. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  15. David sat on the ________________.
  16. Have you found your soul ________________?
  17. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  18. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  22. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  23. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a friend
  2. wax — to grow
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. file — a tool
  5. wax — for sculpting
  6. bat — the animal
  7. mate — to breed
  8. leaves — lets stay
  9. wax — in the ear
  10. land — a country
  11. file — a document
  12. file — a line of people
  13. land — to come down
  14. rule — a law
  15. swing — to play on
  16. mate — a partner
  17. rule — to rule out
  18. leaves — of a tree
  19. swing — music
  20. land — ground
  21. leaves — to go away
  22. swing — in golf
  23. rule — government
  24. bat — in an idiom

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