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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 moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. We're almost out of ________________.
  3. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  13. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  14. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. You don't need to ________________ round.
  20. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. pop — soda
  3. present — a gift
  4. hand — help
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. bark — to shout
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. clip — to cut
  10. present — the time now
  11. chest — of your body
  12. present — there
  13. wax — for sculpting
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. clip — a video
  17. clip — for paper
  18. chest — a box
  19. pop — to visit
  20. hide — animal skin
  21. hand — in cards
  22. chest — of your body
  23. pop — music
  24. hand — part of the body

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