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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. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  2. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  11. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  12. Did you ________________ the meat?
  13. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  16. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  17. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  22. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  23. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  24. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. season — of the year
  3. clip — to cut
  4. row — to paddle
  5. tear — from crying
  6. row — a line
  7. wax — for sculpting
  8. tear — from crying
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. root — of a plant
  11. deal — a big deal
  12. season — to add flavour
  13. root — the cause
  14. clip — a video
  15. root — of a word
  16. hide — animal skin
  17. deal — an agreement
  18. clip — for paper
  19. wax — to grow
  20. tear — to rip
  21. season — in sport
  22. hide — to keep secret
  23. deal — to handle
  24. wax — in the ear

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