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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. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  10. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  11. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  12. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  13. This piece is in a major ________________.
  14. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  15. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  16. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  17. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a hat
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. swing — to play on
  4. tear — from crying
  5. face — part of the head
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. swing — in golf
  8. wound — an injury
  9. face — to point toward
  10. swing — music
  11. cap — of ice
  12. face — to confront
  13. key — in music
  14. key — the most important part
  15. wax — for sculpting
  16. key — for a lock
  17. wax — to grow
  18. wound — an injury
  19. bark — to shout
  20. tear — from crying
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. cap — a lid
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. tear — to rip

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