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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: cold · present · tear · wax · face · cell

  1. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  2. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  12. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  15. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  16. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. 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. tear — to rip
  2. face — part of the head
  3. wax — to grow
  4. cold — an illness
  5. present — the time now
  6. cell — in biology
  7. tear — from crying
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. cold — not warm
  10. tear — from crying
  11. face — to confront
  12. wax — in the ear
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. face — to point toward
  15. present — there
  16. present — a gift
  17. cell — a phone
  18. 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