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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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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. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  4. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  7. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  8. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. The ________________ market has crashed.
  13. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  20. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  21. Did you ________________ the meat?
  22. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  23. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  24. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. last — final
  3. fan — to cool the air
  4. wax — to grow
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. chip — to eat
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. chip — for betting
  9. bark — to shout
  10. season — in sport
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. stock — shares
  13. stock — goods
  14. band — a music group
  15. wax — for sculpting
  16. last — finally
  17. last — to go on
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. wax — in the ear
  20. bark — of a tree
  21. season — to add flavour
  22. chip — in a computer
  23. season — of the year
  24. fan — a supporter

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