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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  10. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  13. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  14. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  15. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  16. My mare is ________________ in color.
  17. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. The King held a masked ________________.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. bay — to keep at bay
  3. degree — an amount
  4. ground — crushed
  5. wax — to grow
  6. ground — the earth
  7. bay — a part of the sea
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. ball — a great time
  10. face — to point toward
  11. degree — from a university
  12. ruler — a monarch
  13. ball — a round shape
  14. wax — in the ear
  15. ruler — for measuring
  16. bay — a horse colour
  17. ruler — for measuring
  18. degree — temperature
  19. face — part of the head
  20. ground — a position
  21. ball — a dance
  22. clip — for paper
  23. clip — a video
  24. face — to confront

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