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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 120 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. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  13. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  18. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. How do you ________________ your surname?
  24. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. leaves — to go away
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. last — finally
  6. hand — in cards
  7. leaves — of a tree
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. court — of a king
  10. spell — a short time
  11. bark — to shout
  12. object — a thing
  13. spell — magic
  14. last — to go on
  15. wax — to grow
  16. last — final
  17. leaves — lets stay
  18. wax — for sculpting
  19. court — for sport
  20. object — an aim
  21. hand — help
  22. court — of law
  23. spell — letters
  24. object — to protest

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