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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. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  8. You don't need to ________________ round.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  14. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  15. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. We're almost out of ________________.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  22. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  23. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  24. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. present — the time now
  2. clip — for paper
  3. hand — help
  4. ground — crushed
  5. wax — for sculpting
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. mark — to pay attention
  8. pop — to visit
  9. ground — a position
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. hand — in cards
  13. mark — a trace
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. pop — music
  16. clip — a video
  17. pop — soda
  18. clip — to cut
  19. wax — to grow
  20. ground — the earth
  21. mark — a grade
  22. present — a gift
  23. present — there
  24. pitcher — in baseball

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