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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 moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. The ________________ went through the wall.
  9. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  10. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  11. Have you settled on a ________________?
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  19. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  20. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  24. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. clip — a video
  5. clip — for paper
  6. degree — an amount
  7. degree — from a university
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. wax — in the ear
  11. date — on the calendar
  12. capital — a city
  13. nail — on a finger
  14. bark — to shout
  15. capital — money
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. clip — to cut
  18. wax — for sculpting
  19. date — the fruit
  20. hide — animal skin
  21. degree — temperature
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. nail — for a hammer
  24. hide — to keep secret

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