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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. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  13. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  19. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  20. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  21. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  22. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  23. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. wax — to grow
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. board — a committee
  5. prune — to trim
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. clip — for paper
  8. cap — of ice
  9. clip — to cut
  10. rule — government
  11. wound — an injury
  12. cap — a hat
  13. rule — a law
  14. chair — a leader
  15. clip — a video
  16. prune — to trim
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. cap — a lid
  19. rule — to rule out
  20. wax — in the ear
  21. board — to get on
  22. board — a flat piece
  23. wax — for sculpting
  24. wound — an injury

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