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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. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  12. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. What do you think of the new ________________?
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  17. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  18. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  19. This piece is in a major ________________.
  20. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  21. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  24. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. key — for a lock
  3. wax — to grow
  4. bark — to shout
  5. chest — of your body
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. key — the most important part
  8. chest — of your body
  9. bark — of a tree
  10. chest — a box
  11. pass — to succeed
  12. wax — in the ear
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. cabinet — ministers
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. wake — before a funeral
  17. wake — to stop sleeping
  18. wake — a trail
  19. key — in music
  20. pass — a permit
  21. cabinet — a cupboard
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. pass — to spend time
  24. cabinet — ministers

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