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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. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  2. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  3. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  4. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. This piece is in a major ________________.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  16. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  17. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  23. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. key — the most important part
  3. wax — in the ear
  4. key — for a lock
  5. court — of a king
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. wax — to grow
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. clip — for paper
  10. march — the month
  11. lean — to rest against
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. key — in music
  14. court — for sport
  15. lean — to bend
  16. wax — for sculpting
  17. wake — before a funeral
  18. march — the month
  19. lean — thin
  20. march — music
  21. clip — to cut
  22. wake — to stop sleeping
  23. wake — a trail
  24. court — of law

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