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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. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  2. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  6. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  9. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. scale — size or range
  3. tear — from crying
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. wax — for sculpting
  6. scale — in music
  7. tear — from crying
  8. scale — for weighing
  9. wax — in the ear
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. wax — to grow
  12. kid — child
  13. fall — the season
  14. court — of law
  15. fall — to drop
  16. bark — to shout
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. tear — to rip
  19. hide — animal skin
  20. court — of a king
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. kid — to tease
  23. fall — to drop
  24. court — for sport

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