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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 had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  5. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  8. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  9. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  10. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  11. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  14. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  15. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. rock — music
  3. kid — to tease
  4. wax — to grow
  5. leaves — of a tree
  6. tear — from crying
  7. drill — army training
  8. rock — to move gently
  9. leaves — lets stay
  10. wax — for sculpting
  11. rock — a stone
  12. tear — to rip
  13. stem — to come from
  14. stem — a stem cell
  15. stem — of a plant
  16. drill — a practice
  17. tear — from crying
  18. wax — in the ear
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. chest — of your body
  21. leaves — to go away
  22. chest — a box
  23. chest — of your body
  24. drill — the tool

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