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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 ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  10. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  11. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  15. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  18. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  19. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  20. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  21. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.

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

Answer key

  1. vault — an arched ceiling
  2. tear — from crying
  3. cold — an illness
  4. cue — a signal
  5. cold — not warm
  6. clip — to cut
  7. stem — a stem cell
  8. tear — from crying
  9. stem — to come from
  10. wax — in the ear
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. clip — a video
  13. clip — for paper
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. cue — a hint
  16. tear — to rip
  17. vault — in gymnastics
  18. wax — to grow
  19. vault — a safe
  20. wax — for sculpting
  21. hide — animal skin
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. cue — for pool

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