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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. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  7. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  8. That must've been a ________________.
  9. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  10. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  11. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  14. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  17. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  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. wax — in the ear
  2. lean — to bend
  3. ground — crushed
  4. fall — to drop
  5. chest — a box
  6. lean — thin
  7. rush — to hurry
  8. rush — a thrill
  9. wax — for sculpting
  10. rush — hurry
  11. club — for dancing
  12. fall — the season
  13. wax — to grow
  14. club — for golf
  15. ground — the earth
  16. lean — to rest against
  17. fall — to drop
  18. chest — of your body
  19. club — a group
  20. ground — a position
  21. chest — of your body
  22. clip — a video
  23. clip — to cut
  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