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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 King held a masked ________________.
  2. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  8. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  9. Where did you ________________ them?
  10. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  13. I've got to change the light ________________.
  14. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. The light ________________ burned out.
  24. The kitten curled into a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a dance
  2. ball — a great time
  3. spring — a coil
  4. clip — a video
  5. file — a document
  6. file — a tool
  7. wax — for sculpting
  8. wax — in the ear
  9. mug — to rob
  10. mug — a cup
  11. wax — to grow
  12. mug — a face
  13. bulb — for light
  14. bulb — of a plant
  15. spring — of water
  16. file — a line of people
  17. bank — for money
  18. clip — for paper
  19. bank — of a river
  20. spring — the season
  21. bank — for money
  22. clip — to cut
  23. bulb — for light
  24. ball — a round shape

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