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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's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. The tickets are free of ________________.
  5. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  13. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  14. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  15. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. He is an ace ________________.
  24. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. wind — moving air
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. charge — a price
  5. wax — for sculpting
  6. clip — to cut
  7. clip — for paper
  8. bore — to drill
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. spring — of water
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. charge — electricity
  13. charge — in control
  14. bore — gave birth
  15. bore — to tire
  16. clip — a video
  17. spring — a coil
  18. chair — a leader
  19. spring — the season
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. wax — to grow
  22. wind — moving air
  23. pitcher — in baseball
  24. pitcher — a jug

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