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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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. The tickets are free of ________________.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  23. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. clip — for paper
  4. charge — a price
  5. file — a line of people
  6. chest — of your body
  7. deal — a big deal
  8. spring — of water
  9. hand — help
  10. file — a document
  11. wax — to grow
  12. charge — in control
  13. clip — to cut
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. spring — the season
  16. wax — in the ear
  17. hand — in cards
  18. chest — a box
  19. file — a tool
  20. deal — to handle
  21. clip — a video
  22. deal — an agreement
  23. charge — electricity
  24. chest — of your body

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