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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 120 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. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  3. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  4. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  5. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  10. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  11. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  12. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  21. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. pitch — a sales talk
  4. wax — to grow
  5. pitch — completely
  6. tear — from crying
  7. squash — the vegetable
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. wax — for sculpting
  10. fine — all right
  11. pitch — a sports field
  12. squash — the sport
  13. hand — in cards
  14. fine — high quality
  15. clip — a video
  16. clip — to cut
  17. tear — from crying
  18. fine — a penalty
  19. hand — help
  20. wax — in the ear
  21. squash — to crush
  22. clip — for paper
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. tear — to rip

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