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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 116 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. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  6. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  7. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  8. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  9. The tickets are free of ________________.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  21. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. land — to come down
  3. charge — electricity
  4. clip — a video
  5. lie — to recline
  6. lie — an untruth
  7. bore — to tire
  8. charge — in control
  9. charge — a price
  10. march — the month
  11. march — music
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. clip — to cut
  14. bat — the animal
  15. wax — for sculpting
  16. march — the month
  17. clip — for paper
  18. bore — to drill
  19. land — a country
  20. bore — gave birth
  21. lie — an untruth
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. land — ground
  24. wax — in the ear

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