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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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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: arm · shower · face · toast · lash · wax · tear · kid

  1. My father caught me by the ________________.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  4. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  8. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  13. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  19. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  20. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. tear — to rip
  3. toast — bread
  4. toast — a drink to someone
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. face — to confront
  7. face — part of the head
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. tear — from crying
  10. shower — rain
  11. tear — from crying
  12. wax — for sculpting
  13. toast — the most admired
  14. kid — child
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. lash — to lash out
  17. shower — to wash
  18. arm — a part of something
  19. wax — to grow
  20. face — to point toward
  21. kid — to tease
  22. lash — an eyelash
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. lash — a whip stroke

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