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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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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 · fan · fork · wax · clip · face · root · tear

  1. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  4. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  7. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  8. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  12. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  15. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  20. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  21. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  22. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  23. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  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. tear — from crying
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. face — to confront
  5. clip — a video
  6. fork — to eat with
  7. root — of a word
  8. face — part of the head
  9. tear — to rip
  10. clip — for paper
  11. root — of a plant
  12. wax — to grow
  13. clip — to cut
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. wax — for sculpting
  16. scale — in music
  17. scale — for weighing
  18. face — to point toward
  19. fork — in a road
  20. fan — to cool the air
  21. fork — a garden tool
  22. scale — size or range
  23. root — the cause
  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