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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  8. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  9. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  13. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  20. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  21. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  22. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. cell — a phone
  3. trunk — of an elephant
  4. cell — in biology
  5. swing — to play on
  6. clip — a video
  7. club — a group
  8. swing — music
  9. club — for golf
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. wax — to grow
  12. wax — for sculpting
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. clip — to cut
  15. swing — in golf
  16. trunk — of a car
  17. degree — from a university
  18. degree — an amount
  19. hide — animal skin
  20. trunk — of a tree
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. club — for dancing
  23. degree — temperature
  24. wax — in the ear

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