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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. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  12. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  13. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  17. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  20. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  21. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  22. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  23. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  24. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. last — finally
  4. calf — of the leg
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. clip — for paper
  8. calf — a young animal
  9. land — ground
  10. last — to go on
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. wax — for sculpting
  13. mark — a trace
  14. clip — to cut
  15. land — a country
  16. snap — to click
  17. mark — a grade
  18. land — to come down
  19. calf — a young animal
  20. mark — to pay attention
  21. last — final
  22. hide — animal skin
  23. wax — to grow
  24. snap — to speak sharply

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