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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. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  4. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  5. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  6. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. Don't do anything ________________.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  13. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  14. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  19. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. deal — to handle
  4. pitch — completely
  5. object — to protest
  6. object — an aim
  7. land — a country
  8. land — to come down
  9. land — ground
  10. rash — hasty
  11. march — the month
  12. pitch — a sports field
  13. rash — on the skin
  14. deal — an agreement
  15. clip — a video
  16. object — a thing
  17. clip — for paper
  18. wax — for sculpting
  19. deal — a big deal
  20. rash — a series
  21. march — music
  22. march — the month
  23. clip — to cut
  24. pitch — a sales talk

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