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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. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  10. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  11. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  12. That was ________________ to happen.
  13. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  14. The tickets are free of ________________.
  15. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  18. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  22. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. perch — the fish
  4. tear — from crying
  5. hand — help
  6. hand — in cards
  7. charge — in control
  8. clip — to cut
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. bound — tied together
  11. staff — employees
  12. bound — certain
  13. charge — electricity
  14. charge — a price
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. tear — from crying
  17. bound — obliged
  18. wax — to grow
  19. tear — to rip
  20. clip — a video
  21. wax — in the ear
  22. staff — a stick
  23. clip — for paper
  24. staff — employees

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