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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  10. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. Have you met the new head ________________?
  13. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  14. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  15. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  16. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  17. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  22. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  23. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  24. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. scale — size or range
  3. hand — in cards
  4. hand — help
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. clip — a video
  8. capital — a city
  9. scale — in music
  10. bear — the animal
  11. capital — money
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. bear — the animal
  14. coach — pulled by horses
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. scale — for weighing
  17. bear — to put up with
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. wax — to grow
  20. clip — to cut
  21. wax — for sculpting
  22. snap — to click
  23. snap — to speak sharply
  24. snap — to snap out of it

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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