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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. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  2. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  7. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  10. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  11. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — to rip
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. tear — from crying
  4. wave — with your hand
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. kick — in football
  7. kick — with a leg
  8. tear — from crying
  9. wave — of the sea
  10. wax — to grow
  11. bark — a dog's sound
  12. clip — a video
  13. wind — moving air
  14. bark — to shout
  15. wind — moving air
  16. wave — a sudden rise
  17. cold — an illness
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. wax — for sculpting
  21. cold — not warm
  22. wax — in the ear
  23. clip — for paper
  24. clip — to cut

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