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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  4. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  5. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. He works in a ________________ mill.
  14. She's very handy with a ________________.
  15. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  16. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  17. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  22. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  23. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. clip — a video
  3. object — an aim
  4. face — to confront
  5. object — a thing
  6. court — for sport
  7. court — of a king
  8. wax — to grow
  9. saw — past of 'see'
  10. kid — to tease
  11. wax — for sculpting
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. saw — the tool
  14. saw — the tool
  15. object — to protest
  16. face — part of the head
  17. wax — in the ear
  18. court — of law
  19. craft — a handicraft
  20. clip — for paper
  21. craft — a skill
  22. face — to point toward
  23. craft — boats
  24. kid — child

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