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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. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  2. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  3. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  7. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  8. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  9. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  12. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  13. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  14. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  15. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. scale — in music
  3. wax — for sculpting
  4. clip — to cut
  5. clip — a video
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. fork — a garden tool
  8. wax — in the ear
  9. face — to point toward
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. face — part of the head
  12. wax — to grow
  13. fan — to cool the air
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. fork — to eat with
  16. scale — size or range
  17. clip — for paper
  18. fork — in a road

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