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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. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  6. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  7. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  8. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  13. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  14. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  15. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  18. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  19. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  20. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  23. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  24. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. wax — to grow
  3. bark — to shout
  4. prune — to trim
  5. bear — the animal
  6. kick — a thrill
  7. chip — to eat
  8. bear — the animal
  9. prune — to trim
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. scale — for weighing
  13. kick — in football
  14. kick — with a leg
  15. scale — in music
  16. scale — size or range
  17. squash — the vegetable
  18. chip — for betting
  19. squash — to crush
  20. wax — in the ear
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. chip — in a computer
  23. squash — the sport
  24. bear — to put up with

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