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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
468
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: ball · cold · lash · wax · ground · clip · calf · face

  1. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  4. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  5. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  6. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  11. The King held a masked ________________.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  15. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  16. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  17. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  18. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  21. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  22. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Add some ________________ pepper to it.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. clip — a video
  3. ball — a round shape
  4. lash — a whip stroke
  5. face — to confront
  6. calf — of the leg
  7. clip — for paper
  8. ground — a position
  9. ground — the earth
  10. ball — a great time
  11. ball — a dance
  12. clip — to cut
  13. cold — an illness
  14. face — to point toward
  15. face — part of the head
  16. calf — a young animal
  17. lash — to lash out
  18. wax — to grow
  19. cold — not warm
  20. wax — for sculpting
  21. lash — an eyelash
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. ground — crushed

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