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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. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  7. The King held a masked ________________.
  8. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  9. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  10. My mare is ________________ in color.
  11. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  14. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  15. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  16. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  22. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  23. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. wound — an injury
  3. wax — to grow
  4. clip — for paper
  5. last — to go on
  6. wax — for sculpting
  7. ball — a dance
  8. bay — a part of the sea
  9. dip — to sink
  10. bay — a horse colour
  11. wax — in the ear
  12. last — final
  13. ball — a great time
  14. current — of water
  15. current — electric
  16. bay — to keep at bay
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. current — happening now
  19. clip — to cut
  20. wound — an injury
  21. ball — a round shape
  22. dip — a sauce
  23. dip — to dunk
  24. clip — a video

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