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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. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  5. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  6. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  11. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  12. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  13. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. I've got to change the light ________________.
  16. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  17. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  18. The light ________________ burned out.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. clip — to cut
  4. lean — to rest against
  5. lean — thin
  6. fine — high quality
  7. tear — from crying
  8. fine — all right
  9. clip — for paper
  10. bulb — of a plant
  11. stem — of a plant
  12. stem — a stem cell
  13. lean — to bend
  14. spring — a coil
  15. bulb — for light
  16. stem — to come from
  17. fine — a penalty
  18. bulb — for light
  19. spring — of water
  20. wax — to grow
  21. clip — a video
  22. tear — to rip
  23. spring — the season
  24. wax — in the ear

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