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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. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  7. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. Have you met the new head ________________?
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  21. That must've been a ________________.
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. drill — the tool
  3. wound — an injury
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. bark — to shout
  6. rush — to hurry
  7. wax — for sculpting
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. capital — a city
  10. rush — hurry
  11. wound — an injury
  12. coach — pulled by horses
  13. last — to go on
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. last — final
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. drill — army training
  19. capital — money
  20. wax — to grow
  21. rush — a thrill
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. last — finally
  24. drill — a practice

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