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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. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  4. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  5. He is an ace ________________.
  6. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. The ________________ went through the wall.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  12. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  15. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  16. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  23. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. fall — to drop
  4. lean — to bend
  5. pitcher — in baseball
  6. fall — the season
  7. row — a line
  8. row — to paddle
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. tear — from crying
  11. lean — to rest against
  12. lean — thin
  13. tear — from crying
  14. wax — to grow
  15. nail — on a finger
  16. wax — in the ear
  17. tear — to rip
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. fall — to drop
  23. nail — for a hammer
  24. mine — for digging

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