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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. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  4. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  5. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  6. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  7. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. This piece is in a major ________________.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  15. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  16. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  17. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  18. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  19. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  20. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  21. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  22. It's one o'clock ________________.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.

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

Answer key

  1. key — the most important part
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. fork — to eat with
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. wax — to grow
  6. sharp — clever
  7. trunk — of an elephant
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. wave — a sudden rise
  10. clip — for paper
  11. key — in music
  12. clip — a video
  13. clip — to cut
  14. wave — with your hand
  15. perch — the fish
  16. wax — in the ear
  17. key — for a lock
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. wave — of the sea
  20. fork — a garden tool
  21. trunk — of a car
  22. sharp — exactly
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. fork — in a road

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