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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. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  3. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  4. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  5. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  6. Have you found your soul ________________?
  7. That must've been a ________________.
  8. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  16. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  17. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  18. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  21. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  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. last — final
  2. ground — the earth
  3. wax — in the ear
  4. mate — to breed
  5. fine — high quality
  6. mate — a partner
  7. rush — a thrill
  8. fine — all right
  9. clip — a video
  10. last — finally
  11. ground — a position
  12. field — farmland
  13. field — a subject
  14. clip — for paper
  15. rush — hurry
  16. mate — a friend
  17. rush — to hurry
  18. fine — a penalty
  19. field — for sport
  20. wax — to grow
  21. ground — crushed
  22. clip — to cut
  23. last — to go on
  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