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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. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. This piece is in a major ________________.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  9. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  10. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  16. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  17. We're on a ________________ here.
  18. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  19. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  20. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  23. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  24. A black ________________ roamed the forest.

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. key — in music
  3. clip — to cut
  4. key — for a lock
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. wax — to grow
  8. roll — a cake
  9. object — a thing
  10. roll — a list
  11. capital — money
  12. capital — a city
  13. present — there
  14. clip — a video
  15. key — the most important part
  16. present — the time now
  17. roll — on a roll
  18. object — an aim
  19. wax — for sculpting
  20. bear — to put up with
  21. clip — for paper
  22. bear — the animal
  23. object — to protest
  24. bear — the animal

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