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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  3. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. I've got to change the light ________________.
  6. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  7. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  11. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. The King held a masked ________________.
  16. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  20. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  23. The light ________________ burned out.
  24. He hit the ball with his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. racket — a loud noise
  3. wax — in the ear
  4. kid — child
  5. bulb — for light
  6. wax — to grow
  7. wax — for sculpting
  8. field — farmland
  9. bark — to shout
  10. bulb — of a plant
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. field — for sport
  14. scale — size or range
  15. ball — a dance
  16. ball — a great time
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. ball — a round shape
  20. scale — for weighing
  21. field — a subject
  22. scale — in music
  23. bulb — for light
  24. racket — for tennis

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