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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. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  15. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  18. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  24. The tickets are free of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. wax — in the ear
  4. tear — from crying
  5. tear — to rip
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. wind — moving air
  9. wax — to grow
  10. game — a match
  11. tear — from crying
  12. lean — thin
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. charge — in control
  15. charge — electricity
  16. wind — moving air
  17. perch — the fish
  18. lean — to rest against
  19. game — wild animals
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. charge — a price

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