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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 moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  3. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  8. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  20. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  21. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  22. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. bark — to shout
  3. trunk — of an elephant
  4. kid — to tease
  5. spring — of water
  6. spring — a coil
  7. squash — the sport
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. tear — from crying
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. kid — child
  13. spring — the season
  14. trunk — of a car
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. tear — from crying
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. squash — the vegetable
  20. squash — to crush
  21. wax — for sculpting
  22. patient — calm and waiting
  23. tear — to rip
  24. wax — in the ear

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