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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. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. Have you settled on a ________________?
  7. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  8. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  9. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  12. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  13. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. cell — a phone
  5. cell — in biology
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. bass — low music
  8. bass — the instrument
  9. craft — a handicraft
  10. wound — an injury
  11. date — on the calendar
  12. craft — a skill
  13. craft — boats
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. bass — the fish
  17. band — a ring
  18. wax — in the ear
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. wax — to grow
  21. band — a music group
  22. date — the fruit
  23. bark — to shout
  24. band — a rubber band

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