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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. You don't need to ________________ round.
  3. We're almost out of ________________.
  4. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  7. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  8. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  16. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  17. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  18. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  21. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. This piece is in a major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. pop — to visit
  3. pop — soda
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. spring — of water
  6. wax — to grow
  7. key — for a lock
  8. stock — goods
  9. clip — for paper
  10. stock — shares
  11. spring — the season
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. clip — a video
  14. march — music
  15. racket — a loud noise
  16. wax — for sculpting
  17. stock — a soup base
  18. pop — music
  19. march — the month
  20. key — the most important part
  21. wax — in the ear
  22. march — the month
  23. spring — a coil
  24. key — in music

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