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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. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  3. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  4. The ________________ took off on time.
  5. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  10. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  11. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  12. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  13. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  18. That must've been a ________________.
  19. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  20. I'll be taking the ________________.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. tube — a container
  3. club — for golf
  4. plane — an aircraft
  5. present — a gift
  6. clip — to cut
  7. mine — for digging
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. wax — in the ear
  10. rush — to hurry
  11. club — a group
  12. present — there
  13. present — the time now
  14. clip — a video
  15. wax — to grow
  16. clip — for paper
  17. plane — in geometry
  18. rush — a thrill
  19. tube — in a tire
  20. tube — the underground
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. plane — a tool
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. club — for dancing

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