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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. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  5. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  12. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  15. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  24. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. kid — to tease
  3. hand — help
  4. bear — the animal
  5. wax — to grow
  6. prune — to trim
  7. can — a tin
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. bear — to put up with
  10. tear — from crying
  11. can — to be able to
  12. bore — gave birth
  13. tear — to rip
  14. bear — the animal
  15. can — a tin
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. tear — from crying
  20. prune — to trim
  21. hand — in cards
  22. kid — child
  23. bore — to tire
  24. bore — to drill

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