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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 120 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. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. My mare is ________________ in color.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  15. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  16. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  21. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  22. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  23. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. dip — to sink
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. face — to confront
  5. cell — in biology
  6. field — a subject
  7. bay — a horse colour
  8. clip — for paper
  9. clip — a video
  10. clip — to cut
  11. chest — a box
  12. cell — a phone
  13. field — for sport
  14. dip — to dunk
  15. face — to point toward
  16. dip — a sauce
  17. chest — of your body
  18. wax — to grow
  19. field — farmland
  20. bay — a part of the sea
  21. face — part of the head
  22. wax — for sculpting
  23. bay — to keep at bay
  24. chest — of your body

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