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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 116 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 · saw · cold · wax · kick · branch · face · stand

  1. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  4. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. She's very handy with a ________________.
  9. I can't ________________ this cold.
  10. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  11. He works in a ________________ mill.
  12. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  13. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  19. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  23. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  24. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.

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

Answer key

  1. stand — on your feet
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. kick — in football
  4. kick — a thrill
  5. cold — an illness
  6. branch — of a tree
  7. wax — to grow
  8. saw — the tool
  9. stand — to bear
  10. face — to confront
  11. saw — the tool
  12. branch — a division
  13. kick — with a leg
  14. tear — from crying
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. cold — not warm
  17. tear — to rip
  18. stand — for spectators
  19. saw — past of 'see'
  20. face — part of the head
  21. tear — from crying
  22. branch — of a bank
  23. wax — for sculpting
  24. face — to point toward

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