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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. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. Did you ________________ the meat?
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  12. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  13. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  14. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  15. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  16. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. He is an ace ________________.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. wax — to grow
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. last — final
  6. wave — a sudden rise
  7. bark — to shout
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. season — to add flavour
  10. cell — a phone
  11. season — of the year
  12. season — in sport
  13. club — a group
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. club — for dancing
  16. wave — of the sea
  17. cell — in biology
  18. club — for golf
  19. last — to go on
  20. wave — with your hand
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. pitcher — in baseball
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. last — finally

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