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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. He is an ace ________________.
  3. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  4. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  5. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  6. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  15. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  20. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  21. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. wax — in the ear
  4. current — of water
  5. lean — thin
  6. foot — part of the body
  7. wax — to grow
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. current — happening now
  11. clip — a video
  12. foot — a measure
  13. game — a match
  14. lean — to bend
  15. lean — to rest against
  16. bark — to shout
  17. clip — to cut
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. wax — for sculpting
  20. current — electric
  21. foot — the bottom
  22. game — wild animals
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. bark — of a tree

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