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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. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  11. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  12. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  13. Don't do anything ________________.
  14. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  15. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  16. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  17. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  18. I seem to be developing a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. file — a document
  4. wax — to grow
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. file — a line of people
  7. file — a tool
  8. leaves — lets stay
  9. bark — to shout
  10. wax — in the ear
  11. wake — to stop sleeping
  12. wake — before a funeral
  13. rash — hasty
  14. rash — a series
  15. wake — a trail
  16. leaves — of a tree
  17. leaves — to go away
  18. rash — on the skin

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