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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. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  10. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  11. The ________________ took off on time.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  19. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  20. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. plane — a tool
  3. last — finally
  4. last — final
  5. bowl — a dish
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. tear — from crying
  8. wind — moving air
  9. club — for dancing
  10. plane — in geometry
  11. plane — an aircraft
  12. clip — to cut
  13. bowl — to roll
  14. tear — from crying
  15. tear — to rip
  16. wind — moving air
  17. clip — for paper
  18. club — a group
  19. wax — to grow
  20. bowl — a football final
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. club — for golf
  23. clip — a video
  24. last — to go on

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