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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. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  2. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  9. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  13. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  14. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  23. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  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. trunk — of a car
  2. fine — high quality
  3. capital — a city
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. clip — for paper
  6. trunk — of a tree
  7. race — a contest
  8. hide — animal skin
  9. fine — a penalty
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. file — a tool
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. fine — all right
  14. wax — to grow
  15. race — humankind
  16. file — a document
  17. clip — to cut
  18. capital — money
  19. trunk — of an elephant
  20. race — the arms race
  21. file — a line of people
  22. hide — to keep secret
  23. wax — in the ear
  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