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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. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  4. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  5. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  6. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. She's very handy with a ________________.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  18. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  19. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  20. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  21. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  22. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  23. He works in a ________________ mill.
  24. Have you met the new head ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. hand — help
  3. root — of a word
  4. calf — of the leg
  5. root — the cause
  6. wax — to grow
  7. tear — from crying
  8. saw — the tool
  9. hand — in cards
  10. tear — to rip
  11. capital — a city
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. wax — in the ear
  14. capital — money
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. wax — for sculpting
  18. calf — a young animal
  19. root — of a plant
  20. saw — past of 'see'
  21. coach — pulled by horses
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. saw — the tool
  24. coach — a trainer

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