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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: tear · clip · cell · mug · wax · club

  1. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. Where did you ________________ them?
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  14. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  15. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  18. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. club — a group
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. cell — a phone
  4. tear — from crying
  5. tear — from crying
  6. clip — to cut
  7. mug — to rob
  8. tear — to rip
  9. club — for dancing
  10. clip — a video
  11. cell — in biology
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. mug — a face
  14. mug — a cup
  15. wax — for sculpting
  16. clip — for paper
  17. wax — to grow
  18. club — for golf

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