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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. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  2. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  14. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  20. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  21. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. That was ________________ to happen.
  24. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. fall — the season
  3. wax — to grow
  4. fall — to drop
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. swing — to play on
  7. bound — obliged
  8. net — in sport
  9. deal — a big deal
  10. clip — a video
  11. net — after costs
  12. snap — to click
  13. deal — to handle
  14. snap — to snap out of it
  15. clip — for paper
  16. wax — for sculpting
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. net — for catching
  19. swing — in golf
  20. swing — music
  21. deal — an agreement
  22. clip — to cut
  23. bound — certain
  24. bound — tied together

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