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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 120 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. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  11. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  12. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  15. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  16. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a flat piece
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. board — to get on
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. band — a music group
  6. wax — for sculpting
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. bat — the animal
  10. wax — to grow
  11. pound — for dogs
  12. rock — to move gently
  13. row — a line
  14. rock — music
  15. pound — a weight
  16. rock — a stone
  17. row — to paddle
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. pound — to hit hard
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. bark — to shout
  22. board — a committee
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. band — a ring

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