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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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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: calf · bowl · row · cold · tear · wind · wax · can

  1. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  9. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  12. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  23. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  24. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. bowl — to roll
  3. row — a line
  4. tear — from crying
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. calf — a young animal
  7. wind — moving air
  8. can — a tin
  9. can — to be able to
  10. cold — not warm
  11. wax — for sculpting
  12. bowl — a football final
  13. wind — moving air
  14. wax — to grow
  15. cold — an illness
  16. can — a tin
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. bowl — a dish
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. tear — to rip
  21. row — to paddle
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. calf — of the leg
  24. wax — in the ear

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