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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. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  7. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  8. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  12. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  13. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  14. We're on a ________________ here.
  15. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  16. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  17. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  24. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. wind — moving air
  3. land — a country
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. wax — to grow
  7. wax — in the ear
  8. pass — to spend time
  9. clip — to cut
  10. land — to come down
  11. pass — a permit
  12. pass — to succeed
  13. roll — a list
  14. roll — on a roll
  15. vault — an arched ceiling
  16. vault — in gymnastics
  17. wax — for sculpting
  18. cell — a phone
  19. clip — for paper
  20. clip — a video
  21. cell — in biology
  22. wind — moving air
  23. vault — a safe
  24. roll — a cake

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