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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. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  8. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  13. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  14. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  17. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  18. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. mark — to pay attention
  3. chair — a leader
  4. lie — an untruth
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. scale — size or range
  8. mark — a grade
  9. chest — of your body
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. clip — for paper
  12. fork — in a road
  13. lie — to recline
  14. scale — in music
  15. clip — a video
  16. wax — in the ear
  17. lie — an untruth
  18. mark — a trace
  19. chest — a box
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. clip — to cut
  22. wax — for sculpting
  23. chest — of your body
  24. fork — to eat with

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