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

  1. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  3. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  4. The ________________ took off on time.
  5. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  14. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  15. Have you settled on a ________________?
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. wound — past of 'wind'
  3. wax — in the ear
  4. plane — an aircraft
  5. date — the fruit
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. tear — from crying
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. plane — a tool
  12. tear — from crying
  13. plane — in geometry
  14. wax — for sculpting
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. wound — an injury
  17. tear — to rip
  18. wound — an injury

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