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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 120 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. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  7. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  13. My father caught me by the ________________.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. clip — a video
  3. arm — part of the body
  4. clip — to cut
  5. kid — to tease
  6. bowl — a football final
  7. arm — a part of something
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. court — of a king
  10. cell — a phone
  11. degree — temperature
  12. bowl — a dish
  13. arm — part of the body
  14. cell — in biology
  15. clip — for paper
  16. wax — to grow
  17. court — of law
  18. degree — from a university
  19. bowl — to roll
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. wax — for sculpting
  22. degree — an amount
  23. court — for sport
  24. kid — child

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