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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.

Make a worksheet

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: chest · arm · fine · wax · clip · ball · lie · nail

  1. My father caught me by the ________________.
  2. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  7. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  10. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  11. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  12. The ________________ went through the wall.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  15. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  20. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  21. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  22. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  23. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  24. The King held a masked ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. ball — a great time
  3. chest — of your body
  4. clip — a video
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. nail — on a finger
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. clip — to cut
  9. fine — all right
  10. wax — for sculpting
  11. ball — a round shape
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. chest — of your body
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. fine — high quality
  16. clip — for paper
  17. lie — an untruth
  18. chest — a box
  19. lie — to recline
  20. arm — a part of something
  21. wax — to grow
  22. fine — a penalty
  23. lie — an untruth
  24. ball — a dance

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