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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. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  6. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  14. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  17. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  19. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  20. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  21. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — the season
  2. tear — to rip
  3. wax — to grow
  4. fall — to drop
  5. rule — to rule out
  6. wax — for sculpting
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. fall — to drop
  9. cold — not warm
  10. rest — a break
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. tear — from crying
  13. rule — government
  14. stem — to come from
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. rest — what's left
  17. wax — in the ear
  18. stem — of a plant
  19. rest — what's left
  20. stem — a stem cell
  21. rule — a law
  22. cold — an illness
  23. tear — from crying
  24. straw — dry grass

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