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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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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: wake · clip · chest · wax · cabinet · prune · wind · cap

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  11. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  12. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  20. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  21. What do you think of the new ________________?
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. clip — a video
  3. chest — of your body
  4. wind — moving air
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. cap — a lid
  7. wax — to grow
  8. wax — in the ear
  9. clip — to cut
  10. cap — a hat
  11. cap — of ice
  12. wake — to stop sleeping
  13. chest — a box
  14. wax — for sculpting
  15. prune — to trim
  16. prune — to trim
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. chest — of your body
  19. cabinet — ministers
  20. cabinet — a cupboard
  21. cabinet — ministers
  22. wake — a trail
  23. wind — moving air
  24. wake — before a funeral

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