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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. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  4. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  5. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  6. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  7. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  14. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  15. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  18. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  23. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  24. She had a strange look on her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. spring — of water
  3. object — to protest
  4. mate — a friend
  5. mate — to breed
  6. wax — for sculpting
  7. object — a thing
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. hide — animal skin
  12. spring — a coil
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. face — to confront
  15. face — to point toward
  16. spring — the season
  17. object — an aim
  18. hide — to keep secret
  19. tear — from crying
  20. tear — from crying
  21. tear — to rip
  22. wax — to grow
  23. wax — in the ear
  24. face — part of the head

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