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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 124 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. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  2. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  8. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  9. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  10. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  11. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  12. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  13. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  22. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. stick — a piece of wood
  2. deal — to handle
  3. clip — a video
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. cold — not warm
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. bank — of a river
  8. stick — to attach or keep to
  9. bank — for money
  10. rest — what's left
  11. deal — a big deal
  12. deal — an agreement
  13. rest — what's left
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. wax — to grow
  17. clip — for paper
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. stick — a piece of wood
  20. bat — the animal
  21. rest — a break
  22. bank — for money
  23. clip — to cut
  24. cold — an illness

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