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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.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  9. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  18. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. can — a tin
  3. wax — to grow
  4. fork — to eat with
  5. spell — letters
  6. march — music
  7. spell — a short time
  8. spell — magic
  9. can — to be able to
  10. game — a match
  11. fine — a penalty
  12. clip — a video
  13. fine — all right
  14. march — the month
  15. fine — high quality
  16. fork — in a road
  17. fork — a garden tool
  18. can — a tin
  19. march — the month
  20. wax — in the ear
  21. clip — for paper
  22. wax — for sculpting
  23. game — wild animals
  24. game — a kind of play

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