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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. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  7. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  10. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  13. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. bark — to shout
  3. land — ground
  4. wound — an injury
  5. tear — to rip
  6. perch — the fish
  7. pound — a weight
  8. wax — to grow
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. wax — in the ear
  11. tear — from crying
  12. craft — boats
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. tear — from crying
  16. pound — for dogs
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. pound — to hit hard
  19. land — a country
  20. wound — an injury
  21. craft — a skill
  22. land — to come down
  23. craft — a handicraft
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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