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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. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  13. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. wax — to grow
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. bat — the animal
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. spell — magic
  8. spell — letters
  9. bear — to put up with
  10. hand — in cards
  11. tear — from crying
  12. bear — the animal
  13. current — electric
  14. tear — to rip
  15. bear — the animal
  16. hand — help
  17. current — happening now
  18. wind — moving air
  19. wax — for sculpting
  20. tear — from crying
  21. spell — a short time
  22. current — of water
  23. wind — moving air
  24. hand — part of the body

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