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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 moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  15. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. land — a country
  3. hide — animal skin
  4. march — the month
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. wound — an injury
  7. degree — an amount
  8. bark — to shout
  9. race — humankind
  10. degree — from a university
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. land — to come down
  13. race — the arms race
  14. wax — for sculpting
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. wound — an injury
  18. degree — temperature
  19. land — ground
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. march — music
  22. race — a contest
  23. march — the month
  24. hide — to keep secret

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