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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 124 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. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  3. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  4. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  5. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  11. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  14. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  15. I'll be taking the ________________.
  16. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  17. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  18. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  19. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  22. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  24. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. firm — a company
  3. firm — steady
  4. kick — a thrill
  5. tube — in a tire
  6. last — to go on
  7. tube — a container
  8. clip — a video
  9. last — final
  10. cue — a hint
  11. scale — for weighing
  12. last — finally
  13. firm — decided
  14. wax — to grow
  15. tube — the underground
  16. cue — a signal
  17. kick — in football
  18. kick — with a leg
  19. wax — in the ear
  20. clip — to cut
  21. wax — for sculpting
  22. scale — in music
  23. scale — size or range
  24. cue — for pool

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