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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. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. The King held a masked ________________.
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  10. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  11. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  20. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  21. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  22. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  23. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — to succeed
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. fall — the season
  4. fall — to drop
  5. tear — from crying
  6. ball — a dance
  7. fall — to drop
  8. ground — the earth
  9. pass — a permit
  10. wax — to grow
  11. ball — a great time
  12. ground — a position
  13. ground — crushed
  14. march — music
  15. march — the month
  16. march — the month
  17. pass — to spend time
  18. tear — to rip
  19. bore — to tire
  20. bore — to drill
  21. wax — for sculpting
  22. bore — gave birth
  23. ball — a round shape
  24. tear — from crying

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