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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. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  17. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  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. wax — to grow
  2. bark — to shout
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. field — for sport
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. stock — shares
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. stock — a soup base
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. wax — in the ear
  12. wound — an injury
  13. bank — for money
  14. wound — an injury
  15. shower — rain
  16. bank — of a river
  17. stock — goods
  18. band — a ring
  19. shower — to wash
  20. band — a music group
  21. bank — for money
  22. field — farmland
  23. field — a subject
  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