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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. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  3. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  11. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  14. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  15. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  16. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  17. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  20. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  21. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  22. We're on a ________________ here.
  23. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. roll — a list
  3. mark — a trace
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. bear — the animal
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. craft — a handicraft
  8. tear — from crying
  9. clip — a video
  10. wax — for sculpting
  11. roll — a cake
  12. clip — for paper
  13. bear — the animal
  14. bear — to put up with
  15. wax — to grow
  16. wax — in the ear
  17. craft — a skill
  18. tear — to rip
  19. craft — boats
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. mark — to pay attention
  22. roll — on a roll
  23. mark — a grade
  24. clip — to cut

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