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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. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  7. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  8. The King held a masked ________________.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  11. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  12. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  13. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  14. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  18. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  23. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  24. She had a strange look on her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. object — to protest
  2. mine — for digging
  3. object — an aim
  4. face — to point toward
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. ball — a round shape
  7. object — a thing
  8. ball — a dance
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. bear — the animal
  11. stem — to come from
  12. stem — of a plant
  13. face — to confront
  14. wax — to grow
  15. clip — for paper
  16. clip — a video
  17. stem — a stem cell
  18. ball — a great time
  19. clip — to cut
  20. wax — for sculpting
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. bear — the animal
  23. bear — to put up with
  24. face — part of the head

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