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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 124 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. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  6. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  9. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  10. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  11. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  12. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  21. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  22. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. last — to go on
  4. last — finally
  5. bowl — to roll
  6. perch — the fish
  7. land — ground
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. wax — for sculpting
  11. mark — a trace
  12. wax — to grow
  13. kid — to tease
  14. bowl — a dish
  15. land — a country
  16. kid — child
  17. clip — for paper
  18. bowl — a football final
  19. land — to come down
  20. mark — a grade
  21. last — final
  22. mark — to pay attention
  23. clip — to cut
  24. clip — a video

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