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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. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  11. The ________________ market has crashed.
  12. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  13. How do you ________________ your surname?
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  19. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  24. The people resisted their cruel ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — a soup base
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. clip — to cut
  4. tear — to rip
  5. ruler — for measuring
  6. tear — from crying
  7. spell — a short time
  8. face — to confront
  9. race — a contest
  10. face — part of the head
  11. stock — shares
  12. stock — goods
  13. spell — letters
  14. spell — magic
  15. race — the arms race
  16. race — humankind
  17. tear — from crying
  18. ruler — for measuring
  19. wax — for sculpting
  20. clip — for paper
  21. wax — to grow
  22. clip — a video
  23. face — to point toward
  24. ruler — a monarch

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