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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: arm · tear · wax · spell · pitcher · bank · charge · clip

  1. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  6. The tickets are free of ________________.
  7. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  12. My father caught me by the ________________.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. He is an ace ________________.
  15. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  16. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  17. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  18. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  19. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  20. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. Fill up this ________________ with water.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. spell — letters
  3. bank — for money
  4. clip — for paper
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. charge — a price
  7. charge — electricity
  8. wax — to grow
  9. spell — a short time
  10. clip — a video
  11. wax — in the ear
  12. arm — part of the body
  13. tear — from crying
  14. pitcher — in baseball
  15. bank — for money
  16. bank — of a river
  17. arm — a part of something
  18. spell — magic
  19. wax — for sculpting
  20. charge — in control
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. tear — to rip
  23. clip — to cut
  24. pitcher — a jug

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