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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. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  3. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  6. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. Did you ________________ the meat?
  9. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  10. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  11. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. That was ________________ to happen.
  15. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  16. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  20. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  21. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  22. He is an ace ________________.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. track — a path
  3. bound — obliged
  4. clip — for paper
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. track — to keep track
  7. wax — to grow
  8. season — to add flavour
  9. track — a song
  10. bound — tied together
  11. season — in sport
  12. clip — a video
  13. clip — to cut
  14. bound — certain
  15. wax — for sculpting
  16. season — of the year
  17. spring — the season
  18. spring — of water
  19. pass — a permit
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. pass — to succeed
  22. pitcher — in baseball
  23. spring — a coil
  24. pass — to spend time

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