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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. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  8. You don't need to ________________ round.
  9. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  10. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. We're almost out of ________________.
  17. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. clip — a video
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. wake — to stop sleeping
  6. pop — music
  7. wax — in the ear
  8. pop — to visit
  9. wax — to grow
  10. foot — a measure
  11. wound — an injury
  12. wake — before a funeral
  13. wake — a trail
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. wound — an injury
  16. pop — soda
  17. foot — the bottom
  18. land — ground
  19. clip — to cut
  20. land — a country
  21. foot — part of the body
  22. clip — for paper
  23. chair — a professorship
  24. land — to come down

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