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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  13. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  14. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  18. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. craft — boats
  3. clip — to cut
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. prune — to trim
  6. mouse — the animal
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. wax — to grow
  9. clip — a video
  10. mouse — the animal
  11. prune — to trim
  12. craft — a handicraft
  13. rule — to rule out
  14. rule — a law
  15. row — to paddle
  16. game — a match
  17. craft — a skill
  18. wax — for sculpting
  19. game — wild animals
  20. row — a line
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. mouse — for a computer
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. rule — government

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