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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: club · clip · cap · wind · fine · rule · sharp · wax

  1. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  9. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  10. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  13. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  14. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  15. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  18. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  19. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  20. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  21. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  22. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  23. It's one o'clock ________________.
  24. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. fine — high quality
  3. clip — a video
  4. rule — a law
  5. wind — moving air
  6. cap — a lid
  7. clip — to cut
  8. rule — government
  9. wax — to grow
  10. club — a group
  11. wind — moving air
  12. club — for dancing
  13. club — for golf
  14. wax — for sculpting
  15. sharp — clever
  16. clip — for paper
  17. wax — in the ear
  18. sharp — with an edge
  19. cap — a hat
  20. fine — all right
  21. rule — to rule out
  22. cap — of ice
  23. sharp — exactly
  24. fine — a penalty

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