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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  4. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  5. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. My father caught me by the ________________.
  10. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  11. You don't need to ________________ round.
  12. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  13. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  14. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  15. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  16. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  17. We're almost out of ________________.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. That was ________________ to happen.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  22. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  23. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  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. clip — to cut
  2. clip — a video
  3. bound — obliged
  4. arm — a part of something
  5. stick — a piece of wood
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. stem — a stem cell
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. stick — to attach or keep to
  11. pop — to visit
  12. arm — part of the body
  13. wax — to grow
  14. stem — of a plant
  15. pop — music
  16. stick — a piece of wood
  17. pop — soda
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. bound — certain
  20. clip — for paper
  21. stem — to come from
  22. bound — tied together
  23. wax — for sculpting
  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