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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. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  5. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  6. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  7. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  8. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  9. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  13. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  14. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  23. Have you found your soul ________________?
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. clip — to cut
  3. clip — for paper
  4. wake — to stop sleeping
  5. toast — a drink to someone
  6. toast — the most admired
  7. squash — the sport
  8. mate — a friend
  9. toast — bread
  10. last — to go on
  11. race — the arms race
  12. wax — in the ear
  13. squash — the vegetable
  14. wake — before a funeral
  15. race — humankind
  16. squash — to crush
  17. race — a contest
  18. wake — a trail
  19. last — final
  20. mate — to breed
  21. clip — a video
  22. wax — for sculpting
  23. mate — a partner
  24. last — finally

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