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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 sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  2. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  3. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  8. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  14. When was this ________________ built?
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. Have you found your soul ________________?
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  20. Have you met the new head ________________?
  21. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  22. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  23. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — to shout
  2. temple — side of the head
  3. wax — in the ear
  4. hand — in cards
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. mate — a friend
  8. coach — pulled by horses
  9. field — a subject
  10. hand — help
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. bat — the animal
  13. wax — for sculpting
  14. temple — a place of worship
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. field — for sport
  17. mate — a partner
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. wax — to grow
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. temple — a place of worship
  22. mate — to breed
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. field — farmland

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