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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 116 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. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  11. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  12. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  23. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  24. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. hand — help
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. content — happy
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. bowl — a football final
  8. content — the amount
  9. net — in sport
  10. pound — to hit hard
  11. pound — for dogs
  12. wax — to grow
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. land — to come down
  15. pound — a weight
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. bark — to shout
  18. net — after costs
  19. land — a country
  20. net — for catching
  21. hand — in cards
  22. bowl — a dish
  23. bowl — to roll
  24. bark — a dog's sound

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