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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 moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  5. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  6. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  7. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  8. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  12. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  13. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  14. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  15. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  16. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  17. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. cold — an illness
  3. field — farmland
  4. cap — a hat
  5. cap — a lid
  6. wax — for sculpting
  7. lash — to lash out
  8. object — to protest
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. field — for sport
  11. cap — of ice
  12. object — an aim
  13. track — a path
  14. wax — in the ear
  15. lash — an eyelash
  16. object — a thing
  17. track — to keep track
  18. clip — for paper
  19. lash — a whip stroke
  20. field — a subject
  21. track — a song
  22. clip — to cut
  23. clip — a video
  24. cold — not warm

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