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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 116 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 assure you, everything's ________________.
  2. The ________________ went through the wall.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  12. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  13. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  14. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. He works in a ________________ mill.
  18. She's very handy with a ________________.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. fine — all right
  2. nail — for a hammer
  3. tear — from crying
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. fine — high quality
  6. bark — to shout
  7. tear — to rip
  8. file — a line of people
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. hand — in cards
  11. saw — past of 'see'
  12. nail — on a finger
  13. wax — to grow
  14. wax — in the ear
  15. file — a document
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. saw — the tool
  18. saw — the tool
  19. file — a tool
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. tear — from crying
  23. fine — a penalty
  24. hand — help

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