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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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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  15. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  19. Did you ________________ the meat?
  20. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  23. When was this ________________ built?
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. hand — help
  3. chest — of your body
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. last — to go on
  6. wax — to grow
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. rule — a law
  9. bark — to shout
  10. temple — a place of worship
  11. hand — in cards
  12. temple — side of the head
  13. last — final
  14. rule — government
  15. season — of the year
  16. chest — a box
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. wax — in the ear
  19. season — to add flavour
  20. rule — to rule out
  21. last — finally
  22. season — in sport
  23. temple — a place of worship
  24. chest — of your body

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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