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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 cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  10. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  13. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  14. He is an ace ________________.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. The ________________ went through the wall.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  22. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. Fill up this ________________ with water.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. ground — the earth
  3. ground — a position
  4. march — music
  5. march — the month
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. ground — crushed
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. nail — on a finger
  10. wax — for sculpting
  11. cell — in biology
  12. wax — to grow
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. pitcher — in baseball
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. march — the month
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. tear — to rip
  20. tear — from crying
  21. cell — a phone
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. pitcher — a jug

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