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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. When are we going to ________________?
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. The ________________ market has crashed.
  7. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  8. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  9. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  10. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  11. That was ________________ to happen.
  12. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  13. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  20. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. shower — to wash
  3. wax — to grow
  4. clip — for paper
  5. land — a country
  6. stock — shares
  7. stock — goods
  8. wax — in the ear
  9. bound — obliged
  10. wax — for sculpting
  11. bound — certain
  12. bound — tied together
  13. firm — a company
  14. land — ground
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. shower — rain
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. firm — steady
  20. stock — a soup base
  21. clip — to cut
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. firm — decided
  24. clip — a video

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