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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. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  5. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  6. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. He is an ace ________________.
  14. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  15. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  16. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  17. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  21. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  22. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  23. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. wax — to grow
  3. last — final
  4. can — to be able to
  5. rock — music
  6. craft — a handicraft
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. can — a tin
  10. last — to go on
  11. craft — a skill
  12. swing — to play on
  13. pitcher — in baseball
  14. rock — to move gently
  15. can — a tin
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. craft — boats
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. bark — to shout
  20. swing — in golf
  21. swing — music
  22. rock — a stone
  23. wax — in the ear
  24. last — finally

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