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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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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: wax · suit · court · stem · tear · capital · shower · clip

  1. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  16. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. When will it ________________ you to start?
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. tear — to rip
  3. suit — in cards
  4. tear — from crying
  5. court — of law
  6. clip — to cut
  7. wax — for sculpting
  8. shower — rain
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. shower — to wash
  11. suit — clothes
  12. court — for sport
  13. wax — to grow
  14. clip — a video
  15. stem — to come from
  16. wax — in the ear
  17. court — of a king
  18. suit — to fit
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. capital — money
  21. stem — a stem cell
  22. capital — a city
  23. stem — of a plant
  24. clip — for paper

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