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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  12. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  13. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  14. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  15. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  19. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  20. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. track — a path
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. safe — a strongbox
  5. file — a document
  6. clip — for paper
  7. track — to keep track
  8. ground — crushed
  9. wax — to grow
  10. ground — the earth
  11. toast — a drink to someone
  12. wax — in the ear
  13. safe — out of danger
  14. toast — bread
  15. track — a song
  16. clip — a video
  17. ground — a position
  18. toast — the most admired
  19. wax — for sculpting
  20. safe — out of danger
  21. file — a line of people
  22. bat — the animal
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. file — a tool

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