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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 124 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. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  10. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  11. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  12. The ________________ market has crashed.
  13. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  14. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  15. He is an ace ________________.
  16. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  19. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  23. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. land — to come down
  3. branch — of a tree
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. bark — to shout
  7. bass — low music
  8. wind — moving air
  9. wax — to grow
  10. wax — for sculpting
  11. branch — a division
  12. stock — shares
  13. bass — the fish
  14. stock — goods
  15. pitcher — in baseball
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. land — a country
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. bass — the instrument
  20. wind — moving air
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. branch — of a bank
  23. stock — a soup base
  24. land — ground

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