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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 kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  9. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  10. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  17. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  24. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — for weighing
  2. clip — for paper
  3. scale — in music
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. clip — to cut
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. fall — to drop
  8. scale — size or range
  9. wax — for sculpting
  10. wax — to grow
  11. wind — moving air
  12. trunk — of an elephant
  13. fall — to drop
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. clip — a video
  16. bank — of a river
  17. fall — the season
  18. prune — to trim
  19. wind — moving air
  20. bank — for money
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. bank — for money
  24. prune — to trim

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