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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. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. The ________________ market has crashed.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  9. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  12. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. The ________________ took off on time.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  23. Have you settled on a ________________?
  24. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — to succeed
  2. tear — from crying
  3. stock — shares
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. stock — goods
  7. wax — to grow
  8. plane — in geometry
  9. wax — in the ear
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. date — the fruit
  12. plane — a tool
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. wound — an injury
  15. wound — an injury
  16. plane — an aircraft
  17. tear — to rip
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. tear — from crying
  20. pass — to spend time
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. pass — a permit
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. wax — for sculpting

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