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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. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  11. She's very handy with a ________________.
  12. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  13. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  16. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  21. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  22. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  23. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  24. He works in a ________________ mill.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a path
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. rule — government
  4. hand — help
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. row — to paddle
  7. hand — in cards
  8. row — a line
  9. clip — to cut
  10. rule — to rule out
  11. saw — the tool
  12. rule — a law
  13. track — to keep track
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. saw — past of 'see'
  16. wax — to grow
  17. clip — a video
  18. lean — to rest against
  19. clip — for paper
  20. wax — for sculpting
  21. lean — to bend
  22. track — a song
  23. lean — thin
  24. saw — the tool

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