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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 116 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. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  3. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  4. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  8. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  9. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  10. I can't ________________ this cold.
  11. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  12. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  15. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  16. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  21. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. pound — for dogs
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. pound — a weight
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. wax — in the ear
  8. perch — the fish
  9. bark — of a tree
  10. stand — to bear
  11. bore — to drill
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. band — a music group
  14. bore — to tire
  15. wax — to grow
  16. stand — on your feet
  17. band — a ring
  18. file — a document
  19. file — a tool
  20. stand — for spectators
  21. pound — to hit hard
  22. bark — to shout
  23. bore — gave birth
  24. file — a line of people

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