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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. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  4. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  7. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  15. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. field — a subject
  3. stick — a piece of wood
  4. wax — to grow
  5. bark — to shout
  6. trunk — of an elephant
  7. stick — to attach or keep to
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. field — farmland
  11. drill — army training
  12. band — a ring
  13. field — for sport
  14. trunk — of a car
  15. stick — a piece of wood
  16. content — happy
  17. trunk — of a tree
  18. band — a music group
  19. drill — a practice
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. content — the amount
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. drill — the tool

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