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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. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  2. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  5. Where did you ________________ them?
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  8. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  9. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  10. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  13. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. That must've been a ________________.
  16. How do you ________________ your surname?
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  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. board — a flat piece
  2. mug — a face
  3. wax — to grow
  4. rush — hurry
  5. mug — to rob
  6. last — final
  7. spell — magic
  8. wax — in the ear
  9. board — to get on
  10. rush — to hurry
  11. clip — for paper
  12. mug — a cup
  13. wax — for sculpting
  14. last — to go on
  15. rush — a thrill
  16. spell — letters
  17. last — finally
  18. game — wild animals
  19. board — a committee
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. game — a match
  22. spell — a short time
  23. clip — to cut
  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