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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: cabinet · tear · clip · stock · roll · land · craft · wax

  1. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  3. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  4. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  7. We're on a ________________ here.
  8. The ________________ market has crashed.
  9. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  21. What do you think of the new ________________?
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  24. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. cabinet — a cupboard
  3. wax — for sculpting
  4. craft — boats
  5. tear — from crying
  6. craft — a skill
  7. roll — on a roll
  8. stock — shares
  9. roll — a cake
  10. land — to come down
  11. wax — in the ear
  12. tear — from crying
  13. craft — a handicraft
  14. clip — a video
  15. clip — for paper
  16. cabinet — ministers
  17. land — ground
  18. clip — to cut
  19. land — a country
  20. stock — goods
  21. cabinet — ministers
  22. tear — to rip
  23. stock — a soup base
  24. roll — a list

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