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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 little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. When will it ________________ you to start?
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  10. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  16. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  17. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — the animal
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. wax — in the ear
  4. clip — for paper
  5. suit — to fit
  6. spell — letters
  7. court — of law
  8. squash — to crush
  9. bear — to put up with
  10. suit — clothes
  11. wax — to grow
  12. squash — the sport
  13. clip — to cut
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. spell — magic
  16. wax — for sculpting
  17. squash — the vegetable
  18. clip — a video
  19. court — for sport
  20. suit — in cards
  21. court — of a king
  22. bear — the animal
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. spell — a short time

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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