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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. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. Did you ________________ the button?
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  8. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  9. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  10. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. stem — a stem cell
  3. chest — of your body
  4. press — to push
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. pitch — a sales talk
  8. stem — to come from
  9. pitch — a sports field
  10. wax — for sculpting
  11. row — a line
  12. pitch — completely
  13. wind — moving air
  14. tear — to rip
  15. chest — a box
  16. press — newspapers
  17. chest — of your body
  18. wax — to grow
  19. wind — moving air
  20. press — a publisher
  21. tear — from crying
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. row — to paddle
  24. row — a quarrel

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