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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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Word bank
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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: tear · swing · shower · wax · bear · hand · wake · clip

  1. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  2. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  7. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  8. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  20. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  24. David sat on the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — rain
  2. swing — music
  3. clip — a video
  4. bear — the animal
  5. clip — for paper
  6. wake — before a funeral
  7. wake — to stop sleeping
  8. bear — the animal
  9. tear — to rip
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. hand — in cards
  12. wax — to grow
  13. hand — help
  14. wake — a trail
  15. tear — from crying
  16. clip — to cut
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. tear — from crying
  19. wax — in the ear
  20. bear — to put up with
  21. swing — in golf
  22. shower — to wash
  23. wax — for sculpting
  24. swing — to play on

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