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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: wave · clip · kick · spring · row · field · wax · ground

  1. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  6. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  7. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  23. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. clip — to cut
  3. row — a line
  4. spring — the season
  5. wave — of the sea
  6. wax — for sculpting
  7. kick — with a leg
  8. field — for sport
  9. ground — crushed
  10. wave — with your hand
  11. wax — to grow
  12. row — to paddle
  13. wave — a sudden rise
  14. spring — a coil
  15. field — farmland
  16. spring — of water
  17. clip — for paper
  18. ground — the earth
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. kick — in football
  21. ground — a position
  22. kick — a thrill
  23. wax — in the ear
  24. field — a subject

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