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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 116 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. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. She's very handy with a ________________.
  8. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  9. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  10. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  14. He works in a ________________ mill.
  15. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  18. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. craft — boats
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. clip — a video
  7. saw — the tool
  8. bear — the animal
  9. saw — past of 'see'
  10. wax — to grow
  11. capital — money
  12. clip — to cut
  13. wax — in the ear
  14. saw — the tool
  15. craft — a handicraft
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. bear — to put up with
  18. bear — the animal
  19. mine — for digging
  20. craft — a skill
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. capital — a city
  24. clip — for paper

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