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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  7. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  10. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  16. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  24. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. foot — the bottom
  3. clip — a video
  4. cell — a phone
  5. land — to come down
  6. wake — before a funeral
  7. face — to confront
  8. wake — a trail
  9. face — to point toward
  10. wake — to stop sleeping
  11. cell — in biology
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. land — ground
  14. clip — to cut
  15. wax — to grow
  16. foot — a measure
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. wax — in the ear
  19. hand — help
  20. face — part of the head
  21. hand — in cards
  22. land — a country
  23. foot — part of the body
  24. wax — for sculpting

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