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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. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  3. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  7. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  8. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  9. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  10. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  11. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  12. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  23. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. lean — to bend
  3. lean — thin
  4. hand — help
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. wake — before a funeral
  7. root — of a plant
  8. wax — in the ear
  9. root — the cause
  10. fine — all right
  11. fine — high quality
  12. wake — a trail
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. hand — in cards
  15. wound — an injury
  16. wax — to grow
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. fine — a penalty
  19. bark — to shout
  20. lean — to rest against
  21. wound — an injury
  22. root — of a word
  23. wake — to stop sleeping
  24. hand — part of the body

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