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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. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  3. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  6. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  9. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  10. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  11. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  14. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  17. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  18. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  19. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  23. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. bowl — a dish
  3. wax — in the ear
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. chair — to sit on
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. clip — to cut
  8. bowl — a football final
  9. bass — the fish
  10. wax — for sculpting
  11. bowl — to roll
  12. clip — for paper
  13. bass — the instrument
  14. stem — to come from
  15. last — final
  16. hide — animal skin
  17. stem — a stem cell
  18. wax — to grow
  19. hide — to keep secret
  20. last — finally
  21. last — to go on
  22. bass — low music
  23. stem — of a plant
  24. clip — a video

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