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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. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  11. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  12. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. I can't ________________ this cold.
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  20. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  24. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — a division
  2. tear — from crying
  3. tear — from crying
  4. spell — letters
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. last — finally
  7. wax — in the ear
  8. last — final
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. hide — animal skin
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. wax — for sculpting
  13. tear — to rip
  14. last — to go on
  15. wax — to grow
  16. bat — the animal
  17. stand — to bear
  18. spell — a short time
  19. branch — of a bank
  20. stand — on your feet
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. branch — of a tree
  23. spell — magic
  24. stand — for spectators

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