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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. When will it ________________ you to start?
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  9. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  17. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  18. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  19. Don't do anything ________________.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  24. Should I buy a wireless ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. mouse — the animal
  3. wind — moving air
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. suit — to fit
  6. clip — a video
  7. land — ground
  8. suit — clothes
  9. wax — for sculpting
  10. row — to paddle
  11. suit — in cards
  12. clip — to cut
  13. rash — on the skin
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. land — to come down
  16. wax — in the ear
  17. rash — a series
  18. wax — to grow
  19. rash — hasty
  20. land — a country
  21. wind — moving air
  22. row — a line
  23. mouse — the animal
  24. mouse — for a computer

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