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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 116 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. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  15. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  16. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. kid — to tease
  3. march — the month
  4. kid — child
  5. last — to go on
  6. craft — a handicraft
  7. prune — to trim
  8. tear — from crying
  9. tear — to rip
  10. craft — boats
  11. march — the month
  12. wax — to grow
  13. last — final
  14. squash — to crush
  15. wax — in the ear
  16. squash — the vegetable
  17. prune — to trim
  18. wax — for sculpting
  19. march — music
  20. squash — the sport
  21. last — finally
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. craft — a skill
  24. prune — the fruit

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