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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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  5. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  8. My mare is ________________ in color.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  13. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  17. That was ________________ to happen.
  18. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  19. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  20. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  21. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  22. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  23. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  24. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. wax — to grow
  3. shower — rain
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. perch — the fish
  6. cell — in biology
  7. rest — what's left
  8. bay — a horse colour
  9. clip — a video
  10. clip — to cut
  11. clip — for paper
  12. rest — a break
  13. wax — in the ear
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. bay — a part of the sea
  17. bound — certain
  18. rest — what's left
  19. bound — tied together
  20. cell — a phone
  21. bound — obliged
  22. wax — for sculpting
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. bay — to keep at bay

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