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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 water is too ________________.
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  4. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  8. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  9. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  10. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  11. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  12. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  13. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. What do you think of the new ________________?
  17. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  18. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  21. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  22. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  23. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  24. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. squash — to crush
  4. face — to confront
  5. tear — to rip
  6. tear — from crying
  7. drill — the tool
  8. pitch — completely
  9. face — part of the head
  10. drill — a practice
  11. wax — in the ear
  12. pitch — a sales talk
  13. cabinet — a cupboard
  14. tear — from crying
  15. cold — an illness
  16. cabinet — ministers
  17. pitch — a sports field
  18. squash — the vegetable
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. drill — army training
  21. wax — to grow
  22. face — to point toward
  23. squash — the sport
  24. cabinet — ministers

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