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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 moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  5. Where did you ________________ them?
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. Have you met the new head ________________?
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. That was ________________ to happen.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  24. He refilled his coffee ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. coach — pulled by horses
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. mug — a face
  5. mug — to rob
  6. last — final
  7. wax — for sculpting
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. shower — rain
  11. bound — obliged
  12. wound — an injury
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. wound — an injury
  15. last — finally
  16. shower — to wash
  17. last — to go on
  18. bound — certain
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. wax — in the ear
  21. bark — to shout
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. bound — tied together
  24. mug — a cup

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