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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
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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: charge · drill · wax · kid · bay · spring · saw · clip

  1. My mare is ________________ in color.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  4. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  7. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. He works in a ________________ mill.
  13. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  17. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  18. She's very handy with a ________________.
  19. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  20. The tickets are free of ________________.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. bay — a horse colour
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. drill — a practice
  4. drill — army training
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. bay — to keep at bay
  7. bay — a part of the sea
  8. kid — to tease
  9. spring — a coil
  10. spring — of water
  11. clip — to cut
  12. saw — the tool
  13. charge — in control
  14. drill — the tool
  15. clip — a video
  16. charge — electricity
  17. wax — to grow
  18. saw — the tool
  19. wax — for sculpting
  20. charge — a price
  21. clip — for paper
  22. spring — the season
  23. kid — child
  24. saw — past of 'see'

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