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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 120 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. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  3. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  4. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  7. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  8. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  21. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  22. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  23. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  24. Recycle the empty soda ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. wake — to stop sleeping
  3. wax — for sculpting
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. drill — a practice
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. drill — army training
  8. scale — for weighing
  9. clip — a video
  10. wake — before a funeral
  11. wax — to grow
  12. can — to be able to
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. wake — a trail
  15. can — a tin
  16. clip — for paper
  17. scale — in music
  18. clip — to cut
  19. prune — to trim
  20. drill — the tool
  21. wax — in the ear
  22. scale — size or range
  23. prune — to trim
  24. can — a tin

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