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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 moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  4. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  5. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  6. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  7. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  10. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  13. We're on a ________________ here.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  23. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  24. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. tear — from crying
  3. deal — an agreement
  4. racket — a loud noise
  5. deal — a big deal
  6. roll — a cake
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. deal — to handle
  10. wax — for sculpting
  11. race — the arms race
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. roll — on a roll
  14. tear — to rip
  15. tear — from crying
  16. race — humankind
  17. race — a contest
  18. kid — to tease
  19. kid — child
  20. net — for catching
  21. net — after costs
  22. net — in sport
  23. wax — in the ear
  24. roll — a list

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