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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 moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  3. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  4. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. Did you ________________ the meat?
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  14. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  15. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. mouse — for a computer
  3. spell — magic
  4. season — of the year
  5. march — music
  6. clip — a video
  7. march — the month
  8. band — a ring
  9. spell — letters
  10. season — to add flavour
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. clip — to cut
  13. wax — for sculpting
  14. season — in sport
  15. wax — in the ear
  16. band — a music group
  17. mouse — the animal
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. march — the month
  20. mouse — the animal
  21. spell — a short time
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. clip — for paper

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