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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. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  6. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  7. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  18. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. scale — in music
  3. wind — moving air
  4. file — a line of people
  5. scale — for weighing
  6. dip — a sauce
  7. scale — size or range
  8. file — a document
  9. clip — for paper
  10. stem — to come from
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. wax — for sculpting
  14. clip — to cut
  15. stem — a stem cell
  16. clip — a video
  17. stem — of a plant
  18. dip — to dunk
  19. file — a tool
  20. dip — to sink
  21. wind — moving air
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. wax — to grow
  24. bat — the animal

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