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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 moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  4. We're almost out of ________________.
  5. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  17. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. You don't need to ________________ round.
  20. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. patient — calm and waiting
  4. pop — soda
  5. mark — to pay attention
  6. mine — for digging
  7. degree — temperature
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. net — in sport
  10. degree — from a university
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. mark — a grade
  15. net — for catching
  16. mark — a trace
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. bark — to shout
  19. pop — to visit
  20. pop — music
  21. net — after costs
  22. wax — in the ear
  23. degree — an amount
  24. mine — an explosive

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