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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. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  2. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  18. What do you think of the new ________________?
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — to crush
  2. wax — to grow
  3. lean — to bend
  4. march — the month
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. lean — to rest against
  8. row — a line
  9. wind — moving air
  10. wind — moving air
  11. wax — for sculpting
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. march — the month
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. cabinet — a cupboard
  16. squash — the sport
  17. lean — thin
  18. cabinet — ministers
  19. clip — to cut
  20. clip — a video
  21. clip — for paper
  22. cabinet — ministers
  23. march — music
  24. row — to paddle

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