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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.

Words on the sheet
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. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  4. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  19. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  20. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  21. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  22. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  23. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  24. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. patient — calm and waiting
  4. vault — an arched ceiling
  5. prune — to trim
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. clip — to cut
  8. kid — child
  9. cell — in biology
  10. clip — a video
  11. wax — for sculpting
  12. cell — a phone
  13. clip — for paper
  14. vault — in gymnastics
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. kid — to tease
  17. prune — to trim
  18. bass — low music
  19. bass — the instrument
  20. bass — the fish
  21. vault — a safe
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. wax — to grow
  24. patient — a sick person

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