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

Word bank: lean · kick · cell · wax · deal · clip

  1. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  13. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  14. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  15. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  16. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. wax — to grow
  5. clip — a video
  6. deal — a big deal
  7. clip — to cut
  8. kick — with a leg
  9. clip — for paper
  10. kick — in football
  11. cell — in biology
  12. lean — to rest against
  13. kick — a thrill
  14. lean — thin
  15. wax — in the ear
  16. deal — to handle
  17. cell — a phone
  18. deal — an agreement

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