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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. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  2. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  3. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  4. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  12. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  13. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  17. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  22. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  23. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — an agreement
  2. pass — a permit
  3. wax — in the ear
  4. pass — to spend time
  5. cold — an illness
  6. clip — for paper
  7. wax — to grow
  8. prune — to trim
  9. chip — to eat
  10. clip — to cut
  11. wax — for sculpting
  12. deal — a big deal
  13. pass — to succeed
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. prune — to trim
  16. chair — a leader
  17. chip — for betting
  18. clip — a video
  19. deal — to handle
  20. cold — not warm
  21. chip — in a computer
  22. chair — a professorship
  23. chair — to sit on
  24. cold — the Cold War

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