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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: clip · band · foot · field · wake · wax · coach · scale

  1. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  4. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  5. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  6. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  7. Have you met the new head ________________?
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  11. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  14. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  20. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  21. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. field — farmland
  3. wake — to stop sleeping
  4. foot — a measure
  5. coach — pulled by horses
  6. foot — the bottom
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. clip — to cut
  9. clip — for paper
  10. wake — before a funeral
  11. scale — for weighing
  12. band — a music group
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. wax — to grow
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. foot — part of the body
  17. scale — in music
  18. field — for sport
  19. wax — for sculpting
  20. wax — in the ear
  21. wake — a trail
  22. field — a subject
  23. band — a ring
  24. scale — size or range

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