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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. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  3. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  4. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  15. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  19. I'll be taking the ________________.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. fine — high quality
  3. branch — a division
  4. fine — a penalty
  5. tear — to rip
  6. spring — the season
  7. ground — crushed
  8. tube — in a tire
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. ground — the earth
  11. ground — a position
  12. branch — of a bank
  13. tear — from crying
  14. tube — a container
  15. wax — in the ear
  16. spring — a coil
  17. bat — the animal
  18. fine — all right
  19. tube — the underground
  20. spring — of water
  21. wax — to grow
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. branch — of a tree
  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