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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. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  13. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  20. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  24. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. mine — for digging
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. lean — to bend
  5. file — a document
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. wake — to stop sleeping
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. wake — a trail
  10. hand — help
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. lean — thin
  13. wax — to grow
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. bark — to shout
  18. file — a line of people
  19. snap — to click
  20. wax — for sculpting
  21. hand — in cards
  22. file — a tool
  23. lean — to rest against
  24. wake — before a funeral

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