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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 116 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 had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  14. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  15. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  24. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. cold — not warm
  3. wax — in the ear
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. tear — from crying
  6. tear — to rip
  7. tear — from crying
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. wound — an injury
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. scale — size or range
  12. scale — in music
  13. kick — in football
  14. lie — to recline
  15. kick — a thrill
  16. land — ground
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. kick — with a leg
  19. land — to come down
  20. land — a country
  21. wax — to grow
  22. wound — an injury
  23. lie — an untruth
  24. lie — an untruth

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