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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. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  6. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. That was ________________ to happen.
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  20. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  21. The ________________ market has crashed.
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. What's the difference between broth and ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. toast — bread
  6. bound — tied together
  7. net — in sport
  8. net — after costs
  9. bound — certain
  10. stock — goods
  11. bark — to shout
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. toast — a drink to someone
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. wound — an injury
  17. wound — an injury
  18. game — a match
  19. toast — the most admired
  20. bound — obliged
  21. stock — shares
  22. net — for catching
  23. game — wild animals
  24. stock — a soup base

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