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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: squash · tube · kick · wax · cold · board · clip · face

  1. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  10. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  13. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  14. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  15. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  16. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  17. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  18. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  19. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  20. I'll be taking the ________________.
  21. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  22. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  23. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. cold — not warm
  3. cold — an illness
  4. kick — in football
  5. clip — for paper
  6. face — to confront
  7. squash — the sport
  8. clip — a video
  9. wax — in the ear
  10. face — to point toward
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. kick — a thrill
  13. face — part of the head
  14. squash — to crush
  15. wax — to grow
  16. board — a flat piece
  17. tube — in a tire
  18. wax — for sculpting
  19. kick — with a leg
  20. tube — the underground
  21. board — to get on
  22. tube — a container
  23. board — a committee
  24. cold — the Cold War

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