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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. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  2. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  3. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  14. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  15. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  19. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  22. Have you settled on a ________________?
  23. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  24. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — a loud noise
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. wax — for sculpting
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. squash — the sport
  6. bark — to shout
  7. kid — to tease
  8. kid — child
  9. ground — the earth
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. ground — a position
  13. pound — a weight
  14. squash — the vegetable
  15. wax — to grow
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. squash — to crush
  18. pound — for dogs
  19. ground — crushed
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. racket — for tennis
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. pound — to hit hard
  24. date — the fruit

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