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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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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. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  2. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  3. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. Have you met the new head ________________?
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  8. The ________________ took off on time.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  13. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  14. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  18. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  19. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  20. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  21. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  24. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — a dog's sound
  2. squash — the sport
  3. coach — pulled by horses
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. rule — government
  8. plane — an aircraft
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. rule — a law
  13. squash — the vegetable
  14. plane — in geometry
  15. hand — in cards
  16. hand — help
  17. wax — in the ear
  18. squash — to crush
  19. wax — to grow
  20. rule — to rule out
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. plane — a tool
  24. bark — to shout

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