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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. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  2. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. I've got to change the light ________________.
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  10. Did you ________________ the meat?
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  14. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  18. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  19. He is an ace ________________.
  20. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. The light ________________ burned out.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. season — in sport
  2. drill — army training
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. bulb — for light
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. season — of the year
  7. file — a tool
  8. wax — to grow
  9. wax — for sculpting
  10. season — to add flavour
  11. clip — for paper
  12. drill — a practice
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. file — a document
  16. file — a line of people
  17. wax — in the ear
  18. drill — the tool
  19. pitcher — in baseball
  20. bulb — of a plant
  21. bark — to shout
  22. bulb — for light
  23. clip — a video
  24. clip — to cut

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