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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 moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  3. He works in a ________________ mill.
  4. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  7. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. She's very handy with a ________________.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. bore — gave birth
  3. saw — the tool
  4. bore — to tire
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. wake — a trail
  7. bore — to drill
  8. tear — from crying
  9. wake — before a funeral
  10. chest — a box
  11. saw — the tool
  12. chest — of your body
  13. tear — to rip
  14. wake — to stop sleeping
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. tear — from crying
  17. wax — for sculpting
  18. ground — the earth
  19. ground — a position
  20. chest — of your body
  21. saw — past of 'see'
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. ground — crushed
  24. straw — dry grass

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