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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: scale · face · tear · clip · wave · mine · ball · wake

  1. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  8. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  12. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  13. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  16. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  17. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  18. The King held a masked ________________.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  21. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. wave — a sudden rise
  3. mine — for digging
  4. clip — for paper
  5. wave — of the sea
  6. face — to confront
  7. scale — in music
  8. face — to point toward
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. wake — to stop sleeping
  12. ball — a round shape
  13. ball — a great time
  14. tear — to rip
  15. wake — before a funeral
  16. wave — with your hand
  17. wake — a trail
  18. ball — a dance
  19. clip — to cut
  20. scale — for weighing
  21. face — part of the head
  22. clip — a video
  23. scale — size or range
  24. tear — from crying

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