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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. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  2. The tickets are free of ________________.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  10. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  11. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  12. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  18. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  24. The old man leaned on his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. charge — a price
  3. last — final
  4. clip — for paper
  5. clip — to cut
  6. object — an aim
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. wax — to grow
  9. charge — electricity
  10. object — a thing
  11. object — to protest
  12. wax — in the ear
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. last — to go on
  15. cold — an illness
  16. clip — a video
  17. wax — for sculpting
  18. charge — in control
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. chair — a leader
  21. cold — not warm
  22. last — finally
  23. staff — employees
  24. staff — a stick

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