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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. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  6. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  9. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  21. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  22. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. The moon will ________________ and wane.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. squash — the sport
  3. row — a line
  4. content — happy
  5. squash — the vegetable
  6. racket — a loud noise
  7. row — to paddle
  8. branch — a division
  9. squash — to crush
  10. degree — an amount
  11. branch — of a tree
  12. bark — to shout
  13. branch — of a bank
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. content — the amount
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. degree — from a university
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. degree — temperature
  20. wax — in the ear
  21. racket — for tennis
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. wax — to grow

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