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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. Have you found your soul ________________?
  6. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  7. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  8. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  9. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  12. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  13. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  14. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  20. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  21. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  22. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  23. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  24. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. branch — a division
  4. clip — for paper
  5. mate — a partner
  6. root — the cause
  7. leaves — to go away
  8. leaves — lets stay
  9. foot — a measure
  10. chest — a box
  11. mate — a friend
  12. leaves — of a tree
  13. foot — part of the body
  14. root — of a word
  15. chest — of your body
  16. foot — the bottom
  17. chest — of your body
  18. clip — a video
  19. mate — to breed
  20. root — of a plant
  21. branch — of a tree
  22. wax — to grow
  23. wax — for sculpting
  24. branch — of a bank

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