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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. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. He is an ace ________________.
  3. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  7. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  10. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  13. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  17. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  18. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. stick — to attach or keep to
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. bat — the animal
  6. wax — to grow
  7. scale — in music
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. hide — animal skin
  10. scale — size or range
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. stick — a piece of wood
  13. scale — for weighing
  14. clip — for paper
  15. row — to paddle
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. row — a line
  21. clip — a video
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. stick — a piece of wood
  24. clip — to cut

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