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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. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. Have you settled on a ________________?
  4. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  5. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  6. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  7. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  10. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  11. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  12. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  15. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  16. Have you found your soul ________________?
  17. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  18. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  19. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  20. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  21. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  22. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  23. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. dip — to dunk
  6. wax — to grow
  7. cap — a hat
  8. clip — for paper
  9. pound — a weight
  10. dip — a sauce
  11. date — the fruit
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. clip — a video
  14. pound — for dogs
  15. mate — a friend
  16. mate — a partner
  17. perch — the fish
  18. mate — to breed
  19. cap — of ice
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. cap — a lid
  22. pound — to hit hard
  23. dip — to sink
  24. clip — to cut

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