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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  14. What do you think of the new ________________?
  15. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. How do you ________________ your surname?
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  22. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  23. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  24. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. spell — a short time
  3. wind — moving air
  4. clip — a video
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. wax — to grow
  7. chest — of your body
  8. chest — of your body
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. cabinet — ministers
  11. clip — to cut
  12. spell — magic
  13. bear — the animal
  14. cabinet — ministers
  15. bear — the animal
  16. squash — the sport
  17. wind — moving air
  18. chest — a box
  19. spell — letters
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. bear — to put up with
  22. squash — to crush
  23. wax — for sculpting
  24. cabinet — a cupboard

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