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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. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  7. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  12. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  23. There's no middle ________________.
  24. Add some ________________ pepper to it.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. racket — a loud noise
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. file — a document
  5. chest — of your body
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. trunk — of a tree
  8. bark — to shout
  9. wax — to grow
  10. file — a line of people
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. wax — for sculpting
  13. net — after costs
  14. chest — a box
  15. chest — of your body
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. ground — the earth
  18. trunk — of a car
  19. net — for catching
  20. file — a tool
  21. net — in sport
  22. trunk — of an elephant
  23. ground — a position
  24. ground — crushed

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