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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 120 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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Word bank
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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 moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  15. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  16. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  19. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. wax — to grow
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. degree — an amount
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. bear — the animal
  8. chair — a leader
  9. band — a music group
  10. stick — a piece of wood
  11. kid — child
  12. degree — from a university
  13. bark — to shout
  14. stick — to attach or keep to
  15. bear — to put up with
  16. bear — the animal
  17. kid — to tease
  18. chair — a professorship
  19. wax — in the ear
  20. band — a ring
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. degree — temperature
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. stick — a piece of wood

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