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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 light ________________ burned out.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  15. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  18. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  21. I've got to change the light ________________.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  24. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — for light
  2. kid — child
  3. wind — moving air
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. clip — to cut
  7. land — to come down
  8. wind — moving air
  9. land — a country
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. clip — for paper
  12. wax — for sculpting
  13. land — ground
  14. bulb — of a plant
  15. fork — to eat with
  16. kid — to tease
  17. wax — to grow
  18. wax — in the ear
  19. prune — to trim
  20. fork — a garden tool
  21. bulb — for light
  22. clip — a video
  23. prune — to trim
  24. fork — in a road

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