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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  7. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  8. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. The moon will ________________ and wane.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. band — a ring
  3. land — ground
  4. kid — child
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. rest — what's left
  7. rest — a break
  8. wax — in the ear
  9. band — a music group
  10. bark — to shout
  11. bark — a dog's sound
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. kid — to tease
  14. rest — what's left
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. land — a country
  17. land — to come down
  18. wax — to grow

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