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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 116 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 moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  9. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  13. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  20. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  24. He hit the ball with his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. clip — a video
  3. wax — for sculpting
  4. march — the month
  5. club — for golf
  6. march — music
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. wax — in the ear
  9. club — a group
  10. clip — for paper
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. club — for dancing
  13. racket — a loud noise
  14. march — the month
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. wake — before a funeral
  17. clip — to cut
  18. cell — a phone
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. wake — to stop sleeping
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. cell — in biology
  23. wake — a trail
  24. racket — for tennis

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