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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. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  4. Where did you ________________ them?
  5. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  6. Have you found your soul ________________?
  7. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. The King held a masked ________________.
  10. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  13. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  14. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  15. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  16. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. Have you met the new head ________________?
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  21. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. degree — from a university
  3. ball — a great time
  4. mug — to rob
  5. mug — a face
  6. mate — a partner
  7. mate — a friend
  8. degree — temperature
  9. ball — a dance
  10. coach — pulled by horses
  11. wax — to grow
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. wax — for sculpting
  14. hide — animal skin
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. mug — a cup
  17. clip — to cut
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. clip — for paper
  20. mate — to breed
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. degree — an amount
  23. ball — a round shape
  24. clip — a video

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