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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. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  3. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  8. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  11. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. The light ________________ burned out.
  18. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  21. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  22. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  23. I've got to change the light ________________.
  24. She had a strange look on her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. fork — a garden tool
  3. face — to point toward
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. snap — to click
  7. face — to confront
  8. sharp — clever
  9. clip — a video
  10. wax — for sculpting
  11. fork — to eat with
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. clip — for paper
  14. clip — to cut
  15. bulb — of a plant
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. bulb — for light
  18. wax — to grow
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. snap — to snap out of it
  21. snap — to speak sharply
  22. fork — in a road
  23. bulb — for light
  24. face — part of the head

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