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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. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  9. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  10. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  17. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  18. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  19. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  24. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. tear — to rip
  5. bat — the animal
  6. cap — a hat
  7. fall — to drop
  8. cap — a lid
  9. spell — a short time
  10. stem — of a plant
  11. tear — from crying
  12. fall — the season
  13. cap — of ice
  14. spell — magic
  15. spell — letters
  16. pitch — a sports field
  17. wax — for sculpting
  18. pitch — a sales talk
  19. stem — to come from
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. wax — to grow
  22. tear — from crying
  23. pitch — completely
  24. stem — a stem cell

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