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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. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  8. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  15. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  19. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  20. The ________________ took off on time.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  23. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. bear — the animal
  3. wax — to grow
  4. drill — a practice
  5. clip — for paper
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. bear — to put up with
  8. bear — the animal
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. clip — a video
  12. ruler — a monarch
  13. clip — to cut
  14. plane — in geometry
  15. wax — for sculpting
  16. drill — army training
  17. scale — in music
  18. plane — a tool
  19. drill — the tool
  20. plane — an aircraft
  21. mine — for digging
  22. ruler — for measuring
  23. ruler — for measuring
  24. scale — size or range

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