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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 ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  7. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  11. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  12. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  15. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. He is an ace ________________.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — to lash out
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. spell — letters
  5. content — happy
  6. lash — an eyelash
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. wax — to grow
  11. pound — to hit hard
  12. wax — in the ear
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. lash — a whip stroke
  15. spell — a short time
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. pound — a weight
  18. bark — to shout
  19. spell — magic
  20. pitcher — in baseball
  21. content — the amount
  22. pound — for dogs
  23. scale — in music
  24. scale — size or range

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