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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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  6. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  13. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  17. When will it ________________ you to start?
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. wax — to grow
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. dip — to dunk
  6. dip — a sauce
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. suit — in cards
  9. tear — to rip
  10. tear — from crying
  11. cold — an illness
  12. wax — for sculpting
  13. suit — clothes
  14. game — wild animals
  15. game — a match
  16. wax — in the ear
  17. suit — to fit
  18. tear — from crying
  19. wound — an injury
  20. cold — not warm
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. wound — an injury
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. dip — to sink

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