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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  7. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  8. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  9. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  10. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. When was this ________________ built?
  14. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  22. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. ground — crushed
  3. wax — for sculpting
  4. tear — to rip
  5. clip — a video
  6. wave — with your hand
  7. craft — a handicraft
  8. craft — boats
  9. wax — in the ear
  10. temple — side of the head
  11. clip — to cut
  12. shower — to wash
  13. temple — a place of worship
  14. craft — a skill
  15. shower — rain
  16. ground — the earth
  17. wax — to grow
  18. tear — from crying
  19. wave — of the sea
  20. tear — from crying
  21. temple — a place of worship
  22. wave — a sudden rise
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. ground — a position

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