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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. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  13. What do you think of the new ________________?
  14. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. cabinet — ministers
  3. wind — moving air
  4. cabinet — a cupboard
  5. degree — an amount
  6. degree — temperature
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. wind — moving air
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. degree — from a university
  11. march — the month
  12. branch — of a tree
  13. cabinet — ministers
  14. branch — a division
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. wax — for sculpting
  17. bat — the animal
  18. tear — from crying
  19. wax — in the ear
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. tear — to rip
  22. march — music
  23. wax — to grow
  24. march — the month

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