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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. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  7. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  8. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  9. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  10. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  11. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  12. The ________________ market has crashed.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  15. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  18. The King held a masked ________________.
  19. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  22. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  23. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. wound — an injury
  3. tear — from crying
  4. clip — for paper
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. mouse — the animal
  7. ball — a great time
  8. lash — to lash out
  9. wax — in the ear
  10. lash — a whip stroke
  11. mouse — for a computer
  12. stock — shares
  13. tear — to rip
  14. wax — for sculpting
  15. stock — a soup base
  16. wound — an injury
  17. ball — a round shape
  18. ball — a dance
  19. lash — an eyelash
  20. clip — to cut
  21. mouse — the animal
  22. stock — goods
  23. wax — to grow
  24. clip — a video

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