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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. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  2. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  8. Where did you ________________ them?
  9. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  10. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  20. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  21. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  22. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  24. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to rest against
  2. net — for catching
  3. prune — to trim
  4. net — in sport
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. spring — of water
  7. lean — to bend
  8. mug — to rob
  9. lean — thin
  10. mug — a cup
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. wax — to grow
  13. spring — a coil
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. net — after costs
  16. bark — to shout
  17. wax — in the ear
  18. spring — the season
  19. scale — for weighing
  20. wax — for sculpting
  21. scale — size or range
  22. prune — to trim
  23. scale — in music
  24. mug — a face

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