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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 116 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. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  4. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  8. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. Where did you ________________ them?
  15. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  16. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  17. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  18. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  22. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  23. He is an ace ________________.
  24. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. mug — a cup
  4. wax — to grow
  5. wound — an injury
  6. wind — moving air
  7. mug — a face
  8. staff — a stick
  9. wind — moving air
  10. bowl — to roll
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. bark — to shout
  14. mug — to rob
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. staff — employees
  17. bowl — a dish
  18. staff — employees
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. wound — an injury
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. bowl — a football final
  23. pitcher — in baseball
  24. wax — for sculpting

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