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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 116 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. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  3. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  12. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  13. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  14. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  15. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  16. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  17. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  20. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  21. The ________________ went through the wall.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. I'll be taking the ________________.
  24. The moon will ________________ and wane.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. bowl — a dish
  3. scale — for weighing
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. cap — a hat
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. scale — size or range
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. cap — a lid
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. tube — a container
  12. bowl — a football final
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. bowl — to roll
  15. nail — on a finger
  16. tube — in a tire
  17. cap — of ice
  18. clip — for paper
  19. wax — for sculpting
  20. scale — in music
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. clip — to cut
  23. tube — the underground
  24. wax — to grow

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