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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 120 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 to change the light ________________.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  8. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  9. The light ________________ burned out.
  10. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. The tickets are free of ________________.
  13. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  14. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  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. bulb — for light
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. clip — a video
  4. clip — to cut
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. cold — not warm
  7. charge — in control
  8. racket — a loud noise
  9. bulb — for light
  10. charge — electricity
  11. band — a ring
  12. charge — a price
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. bulb — of a plant
  15. wind — moving air
  16. band — a music group
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. wind — moving air
  19. wax — for sculpting
  20. cold — an illness
  21. wax — to grow
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. cold — the Cold War
  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