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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 116 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. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  2. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  7. The tickets are free of ________________.
  8. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  9. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  10. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  13. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  20. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  21. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  22. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. How do you ________________ your surname?

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

Answer key

  1. bore — to tire
  2. spell — magic
  3. field — a subject
  4. clip — a video
  5. cell — in biology
  6. wax — to grow
  7. charge — a price
  8. bore — gave birth
  9. rule — a law
  10. rule — to rule out
  11. cell — a phone
  12. spell — a short time
  13. charge — in control
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. field — farmland
  16. charge — electricity
  17. clip — for paper
  18. clip — to cut
  19. wax — for sculpting
  20. wax — in the ear
  21. bore — to drill
  22. rule — government
  23. field — for sport
  24. spell — letters

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