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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. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  6. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  11. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  17. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  18. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  19. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ruler — a monarch
  2. snap — to click
  3. wax — for sculpting
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. leaves — to go away
  6. toast — bread
  7. clip — for paper
  8. toast — a drink to someone
  9. hand — help
  10. wax — in the ear
  11. ruler — for measuring
  12. clip — a video
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. band — a music group
  15. hand — in cards
  16. leaves — lets stay
  17. ruler — for measuring
  18. toast — the most admired
  19. leaves — of a tree
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. wax — to grow
  23. clip — to cut
  24. band — a ring

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