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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 museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  9. Did you ________________ the meat?
  10. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  14. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  15. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  18. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  22. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  23. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  24. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. season — of the year
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. jam — in traffic
  5. land — to come down
  6. pit — in a race
  7. last — finally
  8. pass — to succeed
  9. season — to add flavour
  10. jam — a tight spot
  11. last — final
  12. land — a country
  13. pass — to spend time
  14. pit — a fruit stone
  15. jam — to spread on bread
  16. land — ground
  17. wax — to grow
  18. pit — a hole
  19. bark — to shout
  20. last — to go on
  21. pass — a permit
  22. wax — in the ear
  23. season — in sport
  24. bark — a dog's sound

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