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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. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  2. That was ________________ to happen.
  3. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  4. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  8. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  9. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  10. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  13. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  14. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  15. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. That must've been a ________________.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  23. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  24. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — obliged
  2. bound — certain
  3. lean — to bend
  4. lean — thin
  5. cold — an illness
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. rush — hurry
  8. can — to be able to
  9. wax — for sculpting
  10. can — a tin
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. wax — to grow
  13. bound — tied together
  14. stem — of a plant
  15. rush — to hurry
  16. cold — not warm
  17. tear — from crying
  18. rush — a thrill
  19. tear — to rip
  20. can — a tin
  21. tear — from crying
  22. stem — to come from
  23. stem — a stem cell
  24. lean — to rest against

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