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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 120 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. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  18. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  21. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  22. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  23. She's very handy with a ________________.
  24. He works in a ________________ mill.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. tear — from crying
  3. cold — not warm
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. chest — of your body
  6. rock — music
  7. chest — a box
  8. cold — an illness
  9. tear — from crying
  10. saw — past of 'see'
  11. wax — to grow
  12. file — a document
  13. file — a tool
  14. file — a line of people
  15. mouse — for a computer
  16. chest — of your body
  17. mouse — the animal
  18. rock — a stone
  19. tear — to rip
  20. wax — in the ear
  21. mouse — the animal
  22. rock — to move gently
  23. saw — the tool
  24. saw — 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