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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. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  17. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  24. The moon will ________________ and wane.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. dip — to dunk
  3. chair — a leader
  4. spell — magic
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. tear — from crying
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. spell — a short time
  9. wax — in the ear
  10. net — for catching
  11. tear — to rip
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. hand — help
  14. tear — from crying
  15. hand — in cards
  16. dip — to sink
  17. dip — a sauce
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. wax — for sculpting
  20. bark — to shout
  21. net — in sport
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. net — after costs
  24. wax — to grow

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