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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. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  9. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  10. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  13. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  19. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  20. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  21. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  22. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  23. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  24. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. land — a country
  3. fork — a garden tool
  4. land — ground
  5. clip — a video
  6. field — a subject
  7. clip — for paper
  8. cue — for pool
  9. leaves — lets stay
  10. wax — in the ear
  11. field — for sport
  12. cue — a signal
  13. staff — a stick
  14. clip — to cut
  15. field — farmland
  16. leaves — to go away
  17. land — to come down
  18. cue — a hint
  19. fork — to eat with
  20. staff — employees
  21. staff — employees
  22. leaves — of a tree
  23. wax — for sculpting
  24. fork — in a road

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