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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. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  6. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  14. Have you met the new head ________________?
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  24. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. prune — to trim
  3. patient — calm and waiting
  4. cell — a phone
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. clip — for paper
  8. content — the amount
  9. cell — in biology
  10. content — happy
  11. tear — from crying
  12. clip — to cut
  13. wax — in the ear
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. clip — a video
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. prune — to trim
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. tear — to rip
  21. coach — pulled by horses
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. wax — to grow
  24. wax — for sculpting

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