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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. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  2. He is an ace ________________.
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. She's very handy with a ________________.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  12. I've got to change the light ________________.
  13. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  16. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. The light ________________ burned out.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. He works in a ________________ mill.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  23. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a lid
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. saw — the tool
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. clip — a video
  7. shower — to wash
  8. bulb — of a plant
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. clip — to cut
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. bulb — for light
  13. cap — of ice
  14. clip — for paper
  15. wax — to grow
  16. wax — for sculpting
  17. last — final
  18. bulb — for light
  19. shower — rain
  20. saw — the tool
  21. last — to go on
  22. saw — past of 'see'
  23. cap — a hat
  24. last — finally

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