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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. What do you think of the new ________________?
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. The light ________________ burned out.
  11. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  12. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  13. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. I've got to change the light ________________.
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. The tickets are free of ________________.
  24. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — ministers
  2. spring — a coil
  3. drill — the tool
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. net — in sport
  7. charge — in control
  8. clip — for paper
  9. clip — a video
  10. bulb — for light
  11. bulb — of a plant
  12. cabinet — ministers
  13. wax — to grow
  14. spring — of water
  15. bulb — for light
  16. net — after costs
  17. charge — electricity
  18. clip — to cut
  19. cabinet — a cupboard
  20. drill — a practice
  21. net — for catching
  22. spring — the season
  23. charge — a price
  24. drill — army training

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