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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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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: wax · face · cue · bat · lie · racket · tear · land

  1. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  2. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  9. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  10. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  11. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  15. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  16. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  17. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  23. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  24. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. wax — to grow
  3. bat — the animal
  4. tear — from crying
  5. wax — for sculpting
  6. land — a country
  7. tear — from crying
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. face — to point toward
  11. cue — for pool
  12. land — to come down
  13. tear — to rip
  14. wax — in the ear
  15. face — part of the head
  16. lie — an untruth
  17. racket — a loud noise
  18. land — ground
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. cue — a hint
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. cue — a signal
  23. lie — to recline
  24. lie — an untruth

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