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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
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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: wind · drill · file · stock · wax · mug · bear · clip

  1. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. The ________________ market has crashed.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  7. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  13. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  14. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  19. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  20. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  21. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  22. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  23. Where did you ________________ them?
  24. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. wind — moving air
  3. stock — shares
  4. file — a tool
  5. clip — a video
  6. wax — to grow
  7. wax — in the ear
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. wax — for sculpting
  10. file — a line of people
  11. wind — moving air
  12. stock — a soup base
  13. bear — to put up with
  14. mug — a face
  15. file — a document
  16. bear — the animal
  17. clip — for paper
  18. stock — goods
  19. drill — the tool
  20. mug — a cup
  21. drill — army training
  22. bear — the animal
  23. mug — to rob
  24. drill — a practice

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