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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. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  5. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  6. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  7. There's no middle ________________.
  8. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  9. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  13. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  21. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  22. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  23. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. wax — to grow
  4. kick — with a leg
  5. wax — for sculpting
  6. lash — a whip stroke
  7. ground — a position
  8. kick — a thrill
  9. chair — a leader
  10. clip — to cut
  11. content — happy
  12. chair — a professorship
  13. hide — animal skin
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. clip — for paper
  16. wax — in the ear
  17. ground — the earth
  18. lash — to lash out
  19. content — the amount
  20. kick — in football
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. lash — an eyelash
  23. hide — to keep secret
  24. clip — a video

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