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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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  8. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  12. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  13. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  14. David sat on the ________________.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  23. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  24. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. content — happy
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. leaves — to go away
  6. content — the amount
  7. wax — for sculpting
  8. cap — a hat
  9. land — ground
  10. swing — in golf
  11. cap — of ice
  12. wax — to grow
  13. leaves — of a tree
  14. swing — to play on
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. game — wild animals
  17. land — a country
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. swing — music
  20. cap — a lid
  21. land — to come down
  22. wax — in the ear
  23. leaves — lets stay
  24. bark — to shout

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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