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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 museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  12. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  13. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  14. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  24. The moon will ________________ and wane.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. ground — a position
  3. net — after costs
  4. trunk — of a tree
  5. tear — from crying
  6. board — to get on
  7. clip — a video
  8. current — happening now
  9. clip — to cut
  10. tear — to rip
  11. trunk — of a car
  12. current — of water
  13. wax — in the ear
  14. board — a flat piece
  15. tear — from crying
  16. board — a committee
  17. clip — for paper
  18. net — in sport
  19. ground — crushed
  20. ground — the earth
  21. current — electric
  22. net — for catching
  23. trunk — of an elephant
  24. wax — to grow

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