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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  5. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  9. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  12. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  13. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  14. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  17. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  18. My mare is ________________ in color.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  21. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  24. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. clip — for paper
  3. game — wild animals
  4. trunk — of a car
  5. pitch — completely
  6. game — a match
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. face — to confront
  9. pitch — a sales talk
  10. land — ground
  11. face — part of the head
  12. trunk — of a tree
  13. face — to point toward
  14. trunk — of an elephant
  15. clip — a video
  16. wax — in the ear
  17. bay — a part of the sea
  18. bay — a horse colour
  19. land — a country
  20. pitch — a sports field
  21. wax — to grow
  22. land — to come down
  23. wax — for sculpting
  24. bay — to keep at bay

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