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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.

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: spring · bulb · clip · wax · charge · file · fall · cold

  1. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. I've got to change the light ________________.
  9. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  10. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  11. The tickets are free of ________________.
  12. The light ________________ burned out.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  23. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. file — a line of people
  3. clip — to cut
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. spring — of water
  6. cold — an illness
  7. cold — not warm
  8. bulb — for light
  9. fall — to drop
  10. bulb — of a plant
  11. charge — a price
  12. bulb — for light
  13. fall — to drop
  14. spring — a coil
  15. spring — the season
  16. clip — a video
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. charge — electricity
  19. file — a tool
  20. clip — for paper
  21. fall — the season
  22. wax — to grow
  23. charge — in control
  24. file — a document

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