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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: clip · fine · spring · cap · wind · land · wax · snap

  1. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  6. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  15. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  16. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  17. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. The moon will ________________ and wane.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. wax — in the ear
  4. clip — for paper
  5. fine — a penalty
  6. fine — high quality
  7. land — to come down
  8. clip — to cut
  9. fine — all right
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. land — a country
  12. clip — a video
  13. spring — the season
  14. cap — a lid
  15. cap — of ice
  16. wax — for sculpting
  17. snap — to click
  18. wind — moving air
  19. cap — a hat
  20. land — ground
  21. spring — of water
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. spring — a coil
  24. wax — to grow

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