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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. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. Where did you ________________ them?
  3. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  4. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  10. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  11. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  14. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  21. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  24. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. mug — to rob
  3. craft — a handicraft
  4. wax — to grow
  5. tear — to rip
  6. tear — from crying
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. wax — for sculpting
  10. wax — in the ear
  11. mug — a face
  12. drill — the tool
  13. mug — a cup
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. drill — a practice
  17. band — a music group
  18. craft — a skill
  19. tear — from crying
  20. craft — boats
  21. snap — to click
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. perch — the fish
  24. drill — army training

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