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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. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. We're almost out of ________________.
  4. Have you found your soul ________________?
  5. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  6. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  7. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  8. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  9. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  14. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  15. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  19. You don't need to ________________ round.
  20. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  21. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. land — ground
  3. pop — soda
  4. mate — a partner
  5. mate — a friend
  6. wax — to grow
  7. bass — the instrument
  8. bass — the fish
  9. pop — music
  10. clip — a video
  11. net — for catching
  12. clip — to cut
  13. wax — in the ear
  14. wax — for sculpting
  15. mate — to breed
  16. net — after costs
  17. land — a country
  18. craft — a handicraft
  19. pop — to visit
  20. bass — low music
  21. craft — a skill
  22. land — to come down
  23. net — in sport
  24. craft — boats

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