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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. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  7. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  10. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  11. It's one o'clock ________________.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  14. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  20. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — a dog's sound
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. band — a ring
  6. deal — a big deal
  7. deal — an agreement
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. wax — to grow
  10. wax — for sculpting
  11. sharp — exactly
  12. bat — the animal
  13. sharp — clever
  14. pass — to spend time
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. pass — a permit
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. deal — to handle
  20. pass — to succeed
  21. bark — to shout
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. band — a music group

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