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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 King held a masked ________________.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  5. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  6. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  7. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  11. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  12. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  13. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  14. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  17. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  18. That was ________________ to happen.
  19. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  22. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  23. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a dance
  2. spring — the season
  3. spring — a coil
  4. scale — in music
  5. scale — size or range
  6. club — for golf
  7. bound — obliged
  8. wax — to grow
  9. spring — of water
  10. wax — in the ear
  11. wax — for sculpting
  12. club — a group
  13. ball — a great time
  14. ball — a round shape
  15. clip — to cut
  16. jam — a tight spot
  17. scale — for weighing
  18. bound — certain
  19. bound — tied together
  20. clip — a video
  21. jam — to spread on bread
  22. jam — in traffic
  23. club — for dancing
  24. clip — for paper

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