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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. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  13. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. pit — a hole
  3. clip — to cut
  4. jam — a tight spot
  5. degree — from a university
  6. degree — an amount
  7. jam — in traffic
  8. spell — letters
  9. clip — a video
  10. wax — to grow
  11. band — a music group
  12. scale — for weighing
  13. jam — to spread on bread
  14. band — a ring
  15. wax — for sculpting
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. spell — magic
  18. spell — a short time
  19. clip — for paper
  20. scale — size or range
  21. scale — in music
  22. pit — a fruit stone
  23. degree — temperature
  24. pit — in a race

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