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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 120 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 kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  2. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. David sat on the ________________.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  10. He works in a ________________ mill.
  11. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. Did you ________________ the meat?
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. She's very handy with a ________________.
  22. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. The moon will ________________ and wane.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — for weighing
  2. season — of the year
  3. scale — in music
  4. spring — of water
  5. clip — for paper
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. swing — to play on
  8. spring — the season
  9. saw — past of 'see'
  10. saw — the tool
  11. wax — for sculpting
  12. field — for sport
  13. season — in sport
  14. field — a subject
  15. season — to add flavour
  16. swing — music
  17. swing — in golf
  18. spring — a coil
  19. clip — to cut
  20. clip — a video
  21. saw — the tool
  22. scale — size or range
  23. field — farmland
  24. wax — to grow

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