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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 moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  8. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  9. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  10. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  11. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  12. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  13. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  19. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  22. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. shower — to wash
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. pitch — a sales talk
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. track — a song
  8. fan — to cool the air
  9. pitch — a sports field
  10. wake — a trail
  11. bark — a dog's sound
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. wax — for sculpting
  14. mine — for digging
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. shower — rain
  18. track — to keep track
  19. pitch — completely
  20. bark — to shout
  21. wake — to stop sleeping
  22. track — a path
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. wake — before a funeral

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