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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. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. The ________________ took off on time.
  7. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  13. Have you found your soul ________________?
  14. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. The ________________ market has crashed.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  19. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  20. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  21. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  22. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. cap — of ice
  3. clip — to cut
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. plane — an aircraft
  7. cap — a lid
  8. clip — a video
  9. mate — to breed
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. bat — the animal
  12. mate — a friend
  13. mate — a partner
  14. cap — a hat
  15. kid — to tease
  16. stock — shares
  17. kid — child
  18. wax — to grow
  19. stock — goods
  20. plane — a tool
  21. plane — in geometry
  22. stock — a soup base
  23. clip — for paper
  24. wax — for sculpting

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