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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 120 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. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  8. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  11. How do you ________________ your surname?
  12. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  17. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  18. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. I would like to have a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — what's left
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. wax — to grow
  4. vault — a safe
  5. clip — a video
  6. capital — money
  7. spell — magic
  8. club — for dancing
  9. capital — a city
  10. spell — a short time
  11. spell — letters
  12. club — for golf
  13. clip — for paper
  14. wax — for sculpting
  15. ground — crushed
  16. vault — in gymnastics
  17. rest — what's left
  18. club — a group
  19. ground — a position
  20. clip — to cut
  21. ground — the earth
  22. vault — an arched ceiling
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. rest — a break

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