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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. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  9. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  17. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — a trace
  2. kid — to tease
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. tear — from crying
  7. tear — from crying
  8. wax — in the ear
  9. wax — to grow
  10. kid — child
  11. clip — to cut
  12. mark — to pay attention
  13. clip — a video
  14. mark — a grade
  15. clip — for paper
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. hide — animal skin
  18. tear — to rip

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