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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. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  4. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  9. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  10. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  13. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  14. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  19. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  20. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  23. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  24. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. tear — to rip
  3. root — of a word
  4. kick — with a leg
  5. bat — the animal
  6. kick — a thrill
  7. net — in sport
  8. current — of water
  9. wax — to grow
  10. wax — for sculpting
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. root — of a plant
  13. current — happening now
  14. kick — in football
  15. net — after costs
  16. net — for catching
  17. tear — from crying
  18. pass — to succeed
  19. wax — in the ear
  20. pass — a permit
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. pass — to spend time
  23. current — electric
  24. root — the cause

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