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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. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  4. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  15. The ________________ went through the wall.
  16. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  21. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — an agreement
  2. shower — to wash
  3. wax — for sculpting
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. clip — a video
  6. deal — to handle
  7. clip — for paper
  8. tear — to rip
  9. tear — from crying
  10. ruler — for measuring
  11. clip — to cut
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. tear — from crying
  14. wax — in the ear
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. wax — to grow
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. ruler — a monarch
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. ruler — for measuring
  21. nail — on a finger
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. shower — rain
  24. deal — a big deal

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