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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 120 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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  4. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  5. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  6. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  7. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  8. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  9. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. field — farmland
  3. object — to protest
  4. object — a thing
  5. object — an aim
  6. cue — a signal
  7. wax — for sculpting
  8. drill — army training
  9. wax — to grow
  10. tear — from crying
  11. wax — in the ear
  12. tear — to rip
  13. cue — a hint
  14. field — a subject
  15. field — for sport
  16. cue — for pool
  17. drill — the tool
  18. drill — a practice

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