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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. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  2. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  6. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  7. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  11. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  12. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  21. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. can — a tin
  2. wax — to grow
  3. clip — a video
  4. march — the month
  5. can — a tin
  6. pit — a hole
  7. pit — a fruit stone
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. clip — for paper
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. lie — to recline
  12. pit — in a race
  13. bat — the animal
  14. net — after costs
  15. wax — in the ear
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. march — the month
  18. march — music
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. can — to be able to
  21. lie — an untruth
  22. clip — to cut
  23. net — for catching
  24. net — in sport

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