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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 116 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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. I can't ________________ this cold.
  5. That was ________________ to happen.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  15. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  21. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  22. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  23. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. present — there
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. stand — to bear
  5. bound — certain
  6. shower — to wash
  7. wax — in the ear
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. bound — tied together
  10. shower — rain
  11. clip — a video
  12. stand — on your feet
  13. clip — to cut
  14. stand — for spectators
  15. present — a gift
  16. last — finally
  17. last — to go on
  18. game — wild animals
  19. clip — for paper
  20. bound — obliged
  21. wax — for sculpting
  22. wax — to grow
  23. present — the time now
  24. game — a match

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