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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 116 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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  7. This piece is in a major ________________.
  8. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  11. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  14. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  15. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  16. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  17. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. key — the most important part
  2. row — a line
  3. wax — in the ear
  4. clip — for paper
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. lash — an eyelash
  7. key — in music
  8. lash — a whip stroke
  9. clip — to cut
  10. pound — for dogs
  11. lash — to lash out
  12. clip — a video
  13. pound — to hit hard
  14. key — for a lock
  15. wax — for sculpting
  16. pound — a weight
  17. wax — to grow
  18. row — to paddle

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