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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  4. Did you ________________ the meat?
  5. Don't do anything ________________.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  19. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. The tickets are free of ________________.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. season — of the year
  3. charge — in control
  4. season — to add flavour
  5. rash — hasty
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. hand — in cards
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. hand — help
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. wax — to grow
  12. rash — on the skin
  13. clip — a video
  14. snap — to click
  15. clip — to cut
  16. charge — electricity
  17. last — final
  18. wax — in the ear
  19. season — in sport
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. charge — a price
  22. last — finally
  23. rash — a series
  24. last — to go on

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