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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  6. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  7. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  8. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  9. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  15. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  16. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  17. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  18. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  22. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  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. clip — for paper
  2. wax — to grow
  3. fan — to cool the air
  4. march — the month
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. scale — in music
  7. rest — a break
  8. perch — the fish
  9. face — to point toward
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. march — music
  13. clip — to cut
  14. face — part of the head
  15. wax — in the ear
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. rest — what's left
  18. rest — what's left
  19. clip — a video
  20. scale — size or range
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. face — to confront
  23. march — the month
  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