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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 would like to have a ________________ here.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  6. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  7. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  8. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  9. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  10. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  13. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  14. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  19. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  20. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  21. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  22. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  23. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  24. Have you settled on a ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. rest — a break
  2. tear — from crying
  3. wax — in the ear
  4. tear — to rip
  5. kick — a thrill
  6. cue — for pool
  7. rest — what's left
  8. kick — in football
  9. wax — to grow
  10. mark — to pay attention
  11. chest — of your body
  12. mark — a grade
  13. wax — for sculpting
  14. mark — a trace
  15. chest — of your body
  16. tear — from crying
  17. chest — a box
  18. cue — a signal
  19. rest — what's left
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. cue — a hint
  22. kick — with a leg
  23. date — the fruit
  24. date — on the calendar

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