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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. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  7. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  10. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  18. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  21. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. spring — the season
  3. spring — of water
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. bark — to shout
  6. stick — a piece of wood
  7. bank — for money
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. stick — a piece of wood
  10. bank — for money
  11. tear — from crying
  12. file — a line of people
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. wax — for sculpting
  15. spring — a coil
  16. tear — from crying
  17. bank — of a river
  18. stick — to attach or keep to
  19. file — a tool
  20. wax — to grow
  21. content — happy
  22. tear — to rip
  23. file — a document
  24. wax — in the ear

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