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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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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. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  2. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  5. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  10. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  11. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  14. Did you ________________ the meat?
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  17. The King held a masked ________________.
  18. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  19. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  20. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  21. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  22. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  23. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  24. The kitten curled into a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — to pay attention
  2. trunk — of a car
  3. mine — for digging
  4. mark — a trace
  5. lie — an untruth
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. clip — a video
  8. clip — for paper
  9. wax — for sculpting
  10. wax — to grow
  11. mark — a grade
  12. clip — to cut
  13. trunk — of an elephant
  14. season — to add flavour
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. season — of the year
  17. ball — a dance
  18. wax — in the ear
  19. trunk — of a tree
  20. season — in sport
  21. lie — an untruth
  22. lie — to recline
  23. ball — a great time
  24. ball — a round shape

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