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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. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  8. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  18. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  19. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  23. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  24. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. squash — the vegetable
  3. wind — moving air
  4. wind — moving air
  5. wax — for sculpting
  6. clip — to cut
  7. squash — to crush
  8. deal — an agreement
  9. clip — a video
  10. deal — a big deal
  11. wound — an injury
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. capital — money
  14. capital — a city
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. squash — the sport
  17. bore — to drill
  18. wax — in the ear
  19. bore — gave birth
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. clip — for paper
  22. wax — to grow
  23. bore — to tire
  24. deal — to handle

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