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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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468
Word bank
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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. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  10. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  11. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  12. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  13. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  16. How do you ________________ your surname?
  17. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  18. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mouse — for a computer
  2. clip — to cut
  3. game — wild animals
  4. spell — magic
  5. fall — to drop
  6. spell — a short time
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. clip — for paper
  9. kick — in football
  10. wax — for sculpting
  11. kick — with a leg
  12. mouse — the animal
  13. wax — to grow
  14. file — a line of people
  15. kick — a thrill
  16. spell — letters
  17. wax — in the ear
  18. mouse — the animal
  19. clip — a video
  20. game — a match
  21. fall — the season
  22. file — a document
  23. fall — to drop
  24. file — a tool

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