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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. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  21. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  22. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  23. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. tear — to rip
  3. leaves — lets stay
  4. tear — from crying
  5. wax — for sculpting
  6. bark — to shout
  7. vault — in gymnastics
  8. prune — to trim
  9. wax — in the ear
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. fall — the season
  12. capital — a city
  13. prune — to trim
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. fall — to drop
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. vault — a safe
  18. capital — money
  19. tear — from crying
  20. vault — an arched ceiling
  21. leaves — of a tree
  22. leaves — to go away
  23. wax — to grow
  24. prune — the fruit

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