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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. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. That must've been a ________________.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  6. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  17. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. rush — a thrill
  3. prune — to trim
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. wax — to grow
  6. chip — in a computer
  7. hand — in cards
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. pit — a fruit stone
  10. bark — to shout
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. prune — to trim
  13. rush — to hurry
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. pit — a hole
  17. pit — in a race
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. chip — for betting
  20. bat — the animal
  21. hand — help
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. chip — to eat

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