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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. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. The light ________________ burned out.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. I've got to change the light ________________.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. Don't do anything ________________.
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  18. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  22. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. stock — goods
  2. last — finally
  3. wax — to grow
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. bulb — for light
  6. last — to go on
  7. stock — shares
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. last — final
  10. bulb — for light
  11. band — a ring
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. band — a music group
  14. rash — hasty
  15. bark — to shout
  16. clip — to cut
  17. rash — a series
  18. bulb — of a plant
  19. clip — a video
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. rash — on the skin
  22. wax — for sculpting
  23. clip — for paper
  24. wax — in the ear

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