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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 116 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. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  3. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  4. Have you found your soul ________________?
  5. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. The ________________ took off on time.
  17. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  18. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  19. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  20. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  21. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  24. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. staff — a stick
  3. wax — for sculpting
  4. mate — a partner
  5. wax — to grow
  6. content — happy
  7. bear — the animal
  8. clip — for paper
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. mate — a friend
  12. clip — to cut
  13. content — the amount
  14. staff — employees
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. plane — an aircraft
  17. mate — to breed
  18. bear — to put up with
  19. staff — employees
  20. sharp — clever
  21. bear — the animal
  22. clip — a video
  23. plane — a tool
  24. plane — in geometry

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