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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  4. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  5. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  6. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  7. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  8. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  9. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  10. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  13. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  14. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  15. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  22. This piece is in a major ________________.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. The moon will ________________ and wane.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. capital — money
  3. wax — for sculpting
  4. lean — thin
  5. key — for a lock
  6. rest — what's left
  7. rest — what's left
  8. lean — to rest against
  9. bear — the animal
  10. rest — a break
  11. degree — temperature
  12. lean — to bend
  13. key — the most important part
  14. bear — to put up with
  15. bear — the animal
  16. clip — a video
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. clip — to cut
  19. degree — an amount
  20. degree — from a university
  21. wax — in the ear
  22. key — in music
  23. capital — a city
  24. wax — to grow

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