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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. When are we going to ________________?
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  17. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  22. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. Where did you ________________ them?

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. land — ground
  3. cold — not warm
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. prune — to trim
  7. clip — for paper
  8. firm — steady
  9. wind — moving air
  10. clip — to cut
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. land — a country
  13. clip — a video
  14. firm — a company
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. mug — a cup
  17. mug — a face
  18. wind — moving air
  19. wax — for sculpting
  20. prune — to trim
  21. firm — decided
  22. wax — to grow
  23. cold — an illness
  24. mug — to rob

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