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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. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. The ________________ took off on time.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  13. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  14. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  17. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. tear — to rip
  3. row — a line
  4. row — to paddle
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. swing — to play on
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. plane — an aircraft
  9. wind — moving air
  10. bark — to shout
  11. tear — from crying
  12. swing — in golf
  13. plane — in geometry
  14. swing — music
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. plane — a tool
  17. wax — for sculpting
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. mine — for digging
  20. tear — from crying
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. wind — moving air
  24. wind — to turn a key

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