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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. Where did you ________________ them?
  2. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  3. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  4. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  5. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  6. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  7. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  8. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  9. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  10. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  11. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  12. When was this ________________ built?
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  17. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  22. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. mug — to rob
  2. wake — to stop sleeping
  3. branch — a division
  4. mug — a cup
  5. wax — to grow
  6. toast — bread
  7. branch — of a tree
  8. temple — a place of worship
  9. toast — the most admired
  10. wax — for sculpting
  11. mug — a face
  12. temple — a place of worship
  13. cold — not warm
  14. toast — a drink to someone
  15. tear — to rip
  16. wake — before a funeral
  17. wake — a trail
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. wax — in the ear
  20. tear — from crying
  21. branch — of a bank
  22. temple — side of the head
  23. cold — an illness
  24. tear — from crying

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