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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. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  6. We're almost out of ________________.
  7. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  8. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. You don't need to ________________ round.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  19. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  20. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  24. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. file — a tool
  3. wound — an injury
  4. content — the amount
  5. wax — for sculpting
  6. pop — soda
  7. lean — to rest against
  8. lean — thin
  9. wound — an injury
  10. pop — to visit
  11. file — a line of people
  12. clip — a video
  13. bark — to shout
  14. clip — to cut
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. file — a document
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. pop — music
  19. wax — in the ear
  20. bark — of a tree
  21. clip — for paper
  22. content — happy
  23. wax — to grow
  24. bark — a dog's sound

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