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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. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  19. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  23. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. pass — to spend time
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. clip — a video
  6. clip — to cut
  7. chest — of your body
  8. wax — to grow
  9. clip — for paper
  10. last — final
  11. wound — an injury
  12. wax — in the ear
  13. chest — a box
  14. last — to go on
  15. wound — an injury
  16. squash — the sport
  17. last — finally
  18. squash — the vegetable
  19. pass — a permit
  20. band — a music group
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. pass — to succeed
  23. squash — to crush
  24. chest — of your body

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