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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. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  14. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  15. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  23. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  24. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. hide — animal skin
  3. wax — to grow
  4. content — the amount
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. fall — the season
  7. chair — a leader
  8. fall — to drop
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. wax — in the ear
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. prune — to trim
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. rule — government
  16. bark — to shout
  17. wax — for sculpting
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. prune — to trim
  20. content — happy
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. rule — a law
  23. rule — to rule out
  24. fall — to drop

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