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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. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  2. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  3. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  8. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  9. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  10. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  15. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  18. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  19. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  20. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. staff — employees
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. clip — a video
  5. clip — for paper
  6. spring — of water
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. wake — a trail
  10. wax — to grow
  11. hand — help
  12. spring — a coil
  13. spring — the season
  14. wake — to stop sleeping
  15. wax — for sculpting
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. staff — employees
  18. staff — a stick
  19. wake — before a funeral
  20. wax — in the ear
  21. hand — in cards
  22. fan — to cool the air
  23. clip — to cut
  24. hide — animal skin

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