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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 120 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. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  13. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  14. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  20. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  21. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  22. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  23. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  24. She got the top ________________ in the exam.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. net — after costs
  3. net — in sport
  4. prune — to trim
  5. tear — from crying
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. rule — government
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. mark — to pay attention
  11. wax — to grow
  12. scale — size or range
  13. sharp — clever
  14. rule — to rule out
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. prune — to trim
  17. net — for catching
  18. tear — to rip
  19. rule — a law
  20. scale — in music
  21. sharp — with an edge
  22. mark — a trace
  23. wax — in the ear
  24. mark — a grade

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