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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. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  15. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  16. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  17. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  18. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  19. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  20. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  21. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  24. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. wound — an injury
  3. fall — to drop
  4. wound — an injury
  5. field — farmland
  6. clip — for paper
  7. wax — in the ear
  8. clip — a video
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. staff — a stick
  11. field — a subject
  12. staff — employees
  13. fall — to drop
  14. bass — the fish
  15. lean — thin
  16. lean — to rest against
  17. bass — low music
  18. wax — to grow
  19. fall — the season
  20. staff — employees
  21. lean — to bend
  22. field — for sport
  23. bass — the instrument
  24. wax — for sculpting

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