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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 120 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 ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  7. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  8. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  9. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  10. He is an ace ________________.
  11. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  12. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  13. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  14. I'll be taking the ________________.
  15. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  18. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  21. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  22. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. squash — the vegetable
  3. clip — to cut
  4. squash — the sport
  5. clip — a video
  6. tube — a container
  7. branch — of a bank
  8. can — to be able to
  9. branch — a division
  10. pitcher — in baseball
  11. can — a tin
  12. wax — to grow
  13. can — a tin
  14. tube — the underground
  15. wax — for sculpting
  16. clip — for paper
  17. branch — of a tree
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. wind — moving air
  20. tube — in a tire
  21. wax — in the ear
  22. squash — to crush
  23. wind — moving air
  24. wind — to turn a key

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