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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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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: spell · content · shower · clip · calf · rock · wax · craft

  1. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  4. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  5. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  10. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  11. How do you ________________ your surname?
  12. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  13. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  20. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  24. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. clip — a video
  3. craft — boats
  4. rock — music
  5. calf — a young animal
  6. content — the amount
  7. wax — in the ear
  8. clip — to cut
  9. wax — to grow
  10. calf — a young animal
  11. spell — letters
  12. calf — of the leg
  13. rock — to move gently
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. spell — magic
  16. clip — for paper
  17. content — happy
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. rock — a stone
  20. craft — a skill
  21. spell — a short time
  22. shower — rain
  23. craft — a handicraft
  24. wax — for sculpting

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