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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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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: cap · arm · drill · fork · wax · file · clip · cell

  1. He was locked up in a ________________.
  2. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  5. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  15. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  19. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  20. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  23. My father caught me by the ________________.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in a prison
  2. cap — of ice
  3. wax — to grow
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. drill — army training
  6. cell — in biology
  7. clip — to cut
  8. file — a tool
  9. drill — a practice
  10. cap — a hat
  11. file — a document
  12. wax — for sculpting
  13. cell — a phone
  14. fork — in a road
  15. wax — in the ear
  16. drill — the tool
  17. clip — a video
  18. fork — to eat with
  19. arm — a part of something
  20. fork — a garden tool
  21. file — a line of people
  22. cap — a lid
  23. arm — part of the body
  24. clip — for paper

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