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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. False peace will not ________________.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. He works in a ________________ mill.
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  6. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  16. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  17. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  18. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  19. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  20. She's very handy with a ________________.
  21. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  22. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  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. last — to go on
  2. clip — for paper
  3. saw — the tool
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. cap — of ice
  6. mark — a grade
  7. clip — a video
  8. saw — past of 'see'
  9. last — final
  10. ground — a position
  11. bat — the animal
  12. clip — to cut
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. cap — a lid
  16. mark — a trace
  17. cap — a hat
  18. wax — to grow
  19. mark — to pay attention
  20. saw — the tool
  21. wax — in the ear
  22. ground — crushed
  23. ground — the earth
  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