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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. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  9. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  10. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  11. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  21. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  22. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. fall — to drop
  3. race — the arms race
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. race — humankind
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. tear — from crying
  8. bear — to put up with
  9. wax — for sculpting
  10. bear — the animal
  11. fan — to cool the air
  12. net — after costs
  13. race — a contest
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. tear — from crying
  16. fall — the season
  17. tear — to rip
  18. net — in sport
  19. net — for catching
  20. fall — to drop
  21. bear — the animal
  22. wax — to grow
  23. row — a line
  24. row — to paddle

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