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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 116 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 sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  11. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  12. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  13. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  14. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  15. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  16. That was ________________ to happen.
  17. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  18. Did you ________________ the meat?
  19. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. The ________________ took off on time.
  24. Biology is a ________________ of science.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — to shout
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. season — in sport
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. hide — animal skin
  7. cold — an illness
  8. plane — in geometry
  9. cold — not warm
  10. branch — of a tree
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. branch — of a bank
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. bound — tied together
  15. wax — to grow
  16. bound — certain
  17. plane — a tool
  18. season — to add flavour
  19. season — of the year
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. bound — obliged
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. plane — an aircraft
  24. branch — a division

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