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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  3. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  13. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  14. I can't ________________ this cold.
  15. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  16. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. Did you ________________ the meat?
  20. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  21. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. stand — for spectators
  3. wax — for sculpting
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. cell — in biology
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. wax — to grow
  8. clip — a video
  9. season — in sport
  10. clip — for paper
  11. spring — the season
  12. bowl — a dish
  13. bowl — a football final
  14. stand — to bear
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. bowl — to roll
  17. cell — a phone
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. season — to add flavour
  20. stand — on your feet
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. spring — of water
  23. season — of the year
  24. spring — a coil

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