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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. I've got to change the light ________________.
  4. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  5. The light ________________ burned out.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  8. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  9. The King held a masked ________________.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  14. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  22. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. The moon will ________________ and wane.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. bulb — for light
  4. lash — a whip stroke
  5. bulb — for light
  6. march — the month
  7. lash — an eyelash
  8. ball — a great time
  9. ball — a dance
  10. mine — for digging
  11. net — in sport
  12. clip — a video
  13. bulb — of a plant
  14. lash — to lash out
  15. net — after costs
  16. march — the month
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. net — for catching
  19. march — music
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. ball — a round shape
  22. wax — in the ear
  23. clip — for paper
  24. wax — to grow

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