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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. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  2. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  4. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  5. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. The ________________ took off on time.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  18. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. net — in sport
  3. plane — a tool
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. hide — animal skin
  6. wound — an injury
  7. chest — of your body
  8. chest — of your body
  9. net — after costs
  10. plane — in geometry
  11. net — for catching
  12. wound — an injury
  13. plane — an aircraft
  14. tear — to rip
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. tear — from crying
  17. wax — in the ear
  18. wax — to grow
  19. tear — from crying
  20. last — to go on
  21. last — finally
  22. last — final
  23. chest — a box
  24. wax — for sculpting

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