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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.

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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: cold · wax · perch · sharp · stick · tear · branch · rush

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  3. It's one o'clock ________________.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  6. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  7. That must've been a ________________.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  12. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  13. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  16. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  17. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  18. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  19. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  22. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  23. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  24. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. sharp — with an edge
  3. sharp — exactly
  4. tear — to rip
  5. branch — a division
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. rush — a thrill
  8. tear — from crying
  9. wax — to grow
  10. tear — from crying
  11. branch — of a bank
  12. sharp — clever
  13. branch — of a tree
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. rush — to hurry
  16. rush — hurry
  17. perch — the fish
  18. wax — in the ear
  19. wax — for sculpting
  20. cold — an illness
  21. stick — a piece of wood
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. stick — a piece of wood
  24. stick — to attach or keep to

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