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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. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  2. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  3. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. Have you found your soul ________________?
  9. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  10. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  11. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  12. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  13. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  14. She's very handy with a ________________.
  15. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. This piece is in a major ________________.
  20. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  21. He works in a ________________ mill.
  22. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  23. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. key — for a lock
  2. mate — a friend
  3. racket — a loud noise
  4. mine — for digging
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. clip — a video
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. mate — a partner
  9. key — the most important part
  10. rest — a break
  11. wax — for sculpting
  12. wax — to grow
  13. mate — to breed
  14. saw — the tool
  15. wax — in the ear
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. rest — what's left
  18. clip — for paper
  19. key — in music
  20. rest — what's left
  21. saw — the tool
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. saw — past of 'see'
  24. clip — to cut

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