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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  14. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  15. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  16. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. That was ________________ to happen.
  24. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. clip — for paper
  4. wound — an injury
  5. clip — to cut
  6. spring — of water
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. hand — in cards
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. wax — to grow
  11. spring — a coil
  12. net — after costs
  13. bound — tied together
  14. chip — in a computer
  15. chip — for betting
  16. chip — to eat
  17. net — in sport
  18. bound — obliged
  19. clip — a video
  20. spring — the season
  21. net — for catching
  22. wound — an injury
  23. bound — certain
  24. wax — in the ear

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