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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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  6. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  7. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  8. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  14. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  17. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  18. That must've been a ________________.
  19. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. I can't ________________ this cold.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. file — a tool
  3. rush — to hurry
  4. clip — for paper
  5. rush — hurry
  6. wax — to grow
  7. wax — for sculpting
  8. season — of the year
  9. tear — from crying
  10. stand — for spectators
  11. clip — a video
  12. file — a document
  13. mark — a grade
  14. season — in sport
  15. tear — from crying
  16. stand — on your feet
  17. mark — a trace
  18. rush — a thrill
  19. mark — to pay attention
  20. clip — to cut
  21. tear — to rip
  22. wax — in the ear
  23. file — a line of people
  24. stand — to bear

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