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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. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  6. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  7. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  11. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  12. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  13. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  14. That must've been a ________________.
  15. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. My father caught me by the ________________.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  24. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. bat — the animal
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. clip — a video
  5. rush — hurry
  6. wax — to grow
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. clip — to cut
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. root — of a plant
  11. arm — a part of something
  12. rush — to hurry
  13. root — the cause
  14. rush — a thrill
  15. root — of a word
  16. shower — to wash
  17. drill — the tool
  18. arm — part of the body
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. clip — for paper
  21. drill — army training
  22. shower — rain
  23. drill — a practice
  24. wax — for sculpting

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