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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  4. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  5. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  13. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  20. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. Have you met the new head ________________?
  23. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. hand — help
  3. current — happening now
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. current — of water
  6. game — wild animals
  7. wax — to grow
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. prune — to trim
  11. hand — in cards
  12. coach — pulled by horses
  13. current — electric
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. rule — government
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. prune — to trim
  18. bark — to shout
  19. wax — in the ear
  20. rule — a law
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. rule — to rule out
  24. bark — of a tree

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