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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 kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. David sat on the ________________.
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  12. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  13. Don't do anything ________________.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — for weighing
  2. last — final
  3. rash — a series
  4. last — finally
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. spring — of water
  7. swing — to play on
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. spring — a coil
  10. spring — the season
  11. rash — on the skin
  12. wax — to grow
  13. rash — hasty
  14. clip — a video
  15. swing — music
  16. scale — size or range
  17. content — the amount
  18. clip — to cut
  19. last — to go on
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. content — happy
  22. clip — for paper
  23. scale — in music
  24. swing — in golf

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