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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. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  4. I'll be taking the ________________.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  7. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  11. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  12. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  13. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  16. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  17. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — the animal
  2. tear — to rip
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. tube — the underground
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. stem — to come from
  7. tube — in a tire
  8. spring — a coil
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. bear — the animal
  11. stem — of a plant
  12. racket — a loud noise
  13. stem — a stem cell
  14. wound — an injury
  15. tube — a container
  16. wax — to grow
  17. wax — for sculpting
  18. spring — of water
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. tear — from crying
  21. tear — from crying
  22. spring — the season
  23. bear — to put up with
  24. wound — an injury

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