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

Word bank: clip · cell · wind · suit · cold · wax

  1. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. When will it ________________ you to start?
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  12. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  13. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in biology
  2. clip — a video
  3. cold — an illness
  4. clip — for paper
  5. wax — to grow
  6. cold — not warm
  7. suit — clothes
  8. clip — to cut
  9. suit — to fit
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. suit — in cards
  12. wax — for sculpting
  13. wax — in the ear
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. cell — a phone
  16. wind — moving air
  17. wind — moving air
  18. cell — in a prison

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