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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. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  7. Have you settled on a ________________?
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  11. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. game — wild animals
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. game — a match
  6. date — the fruit
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. bark — to shout
  9. drill — a practice
  10. rock — a stone
  11. rock — to move gently
  12. drill — the tool
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. shower — rain
  16. wax — for sculpting
  17. drill — army training
  18. last — finally
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. wax — to grow
  21. shower — to wash
  22. wax — in the ear
  23. last — to go on
  24. last — final

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