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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. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  2. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  14. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  17. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?

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

Answer key

  1. chest — a box
  2. fan — to cool the air
  3. wind — moving air
  4. pound — a weight
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. bark — to shout
  8. wind — moving air
  9. wax — in the ear
  10. cold — not warm
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. wax — to grow
  14. pound — to hit hard
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. snap — to click
  17. wax — for sculpting
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. cold — an illness
  20. chest — of your body
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. pound — for dogs
  23. chest — of your body
  24. fan — a supporter

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