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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 116 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: fan · lie · wax · mine · cold · clip · cue · stick

  1. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  12. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  15. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  16. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  17. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  18. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  19. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  20. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a hint
  2. mine — for digging
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. lie — an untruth
  5. clip — to cut
  6. lie — to recline
  7. clip — a video
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. cue — a signal
  10. cold — an illness
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. wax — in the ear
  13. clip — for paper
  14. stick — a piece of wood
  15. fan — to cool the air
  16. stick — a piece of wood
  17. wax — to grow
  18. lie — an untruth
  19. wax — for sculpting
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. cue — for pool
  23. cold — not warm
  24. stick — to attach or keep to

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