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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  3. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  4. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  5. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  6. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  7. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  8. That must've been a ________________.
  9. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  14. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  22. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. face — part of the head
  3. bank — for money
  4. mark — to pay attention
  5. wax — for sculpting
  6. face — to point toward
  7. bank — for money
  8. rush — a thrill
  9. wax — to grow
  10. file — a document
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. file — a tool
  13. wax — in the ear
  14. face — to confront
  15. clip — to cut
  16. wind — moving air
  17. rush — hurry
  18. wind — moving air
  19. bank — of a river
  20. file — a line of people
  21. mark — a grade
  22. rush — to hurry
  23. clip — a video
  24. mark — a trace

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