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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. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  10. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  13. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  14. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  18. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  24. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.

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

Answer key

  1. wave — with your hand
  2. spring — of water
  3. clip — to cut
  4. lean — to bend
  5. court — of law
  6. wave — a sudden rise
  7. court — of a king
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. wax — to grow
  10. lean — thin
  11. clip — for paper
  12. can — to be able to
  13. wave — of the sea
  14. can — a tin
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. clip — a video
  17. wax — in the ear
  18. wax — for sculpting
  19. court — for sport
  20. spring — a coil
  21. spring — the season
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. lean — to rest against
  24. can — a tin

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