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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. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  2. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  3. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  4. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  5. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  16. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  17. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. That must've been a ________________.
  20. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  24. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — to hurry
  2. chest — a box
  3. rush — hurry
  4. pit — in a race
  5. dip — to dunk
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. pit — a hole
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. stock — shares
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. tear — from crying
  12. chest — of your body
  13. chest — of your body
  14. tear — to rip
  15. stock — goods
  16. dip — a sauce
  17. pit — a fruit stone
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. rush — a thrill
  20. wax — to grow
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. tear — from crying
  23. wax — for sculpting
  24. dip — to sink

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