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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: tear · shower · stick · lean · wax · date · bark · bat

  1. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  3. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. Have you settled on a ________________?
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  20. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. lean — thin
  3. wax — in the ear
  4. tear — to rip
  5. date — the fruit
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. lean — to bend
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. lean — to rest against
  11. tear — from crying
  12. bark — to shout
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. shower — rain
  15. stick — a piece of wood
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. tear — from crying
  18. bat — the animal
  19. stick — to attach or keep to
  20. stick — a piece of wood
  21. shower — to wash
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. bark — of a tree

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