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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 116 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: pit · wound · clip · wax · plane · rest · wind · saw

  1. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  3. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  4. She's very handy with a ________________.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  9. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  13. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  16. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  17. He works in a ________________ mill.
  18. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  22. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  23. The ________________ took off on time.
  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. wound — an injury
  2. pit — a fruit stone
  3. wax — in the ear
  4. saw — the tool
  5. wind — moving air
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. plane — a tool
  9. wax — to grow
  10. wound — an injury
  11. clip — for paper
  12. rest — what's left
  13. pit — in a race
  14. clip — to cut
  15. rest — a break
  16. plane — in geometry
  17. saw — the tool
  18. pit — a hole
  19. wind — moving air
  20. clip — a video
  21. saw — past of 'see'
  22. rest — what's left
  23. plane — an aircraft
  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