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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. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  6. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  7. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  16. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  19. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  20. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  21. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  22. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  23. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  24. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. face — part of the head
  4. face — to point toward
  5. pitch — a sports field
  6. pitch — completely
  7. squash — to crush
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. craft — a handicraft
  10. wind — moving air
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. wind — moving air
  13. clip — for paper
  14. clip — to cut
  15. chair — a leader
  16. wax — to grow
  17. clip — a video
  18. squash — the sport
  19. chair — a professorship
  20. squash — the vegetable
  21. craft — boats
  22. pitch — a sales talk
  23. face — to confront
  24. craft — a skill

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