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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. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. My father caught me by the ________________.
  5. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  9. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  10. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  13. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  14. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  17. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  18. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  19. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  20. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  23. That must've been a ________________.
  24. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a car
  2. last — final
  3. clip — a video
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. deal — an agreement
  6. clip — to cut
  7. last — to go on
  8. deal — to handle
  9. rush — hurry
  10. deal — a big deal
  11. clip — for paper
  12. arm — part of the body
  13. wax — to grow
  14. leaves — lets stay
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. rush — to hurry
  17. leaves — to go away
  18. trunk — of an elephant
  19. leaves — of a tree
  20. wax — in the ear
  21. last — finally
  22. wax — for sculpting
  23. rush — a thrill
  24. arm — a part of something

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