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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. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  9. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  10. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  18. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  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. current — happening now
  2. tear — from crying
  3. wax — to grow
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. drill — a practice
  6. tear — to rip
  7. shower — rain
  8. staff — employees
  9. staff — employees
  10. staff — a stick
  11. drill — army training
  12. current — of water
  13. tear — from crying
  14. shower — to wash
  15. wax — in the ear
  16. drill — the tool
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. cold — not warm
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. current — electric
  22. cold — an illness
  23. patient — calm and waiting
  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