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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. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  4. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  5. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  10. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  15. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  16. I'll be taking the ________________.
  17. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  18. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  19. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  20. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  21. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for dancing
  2. hand — help
  3. wax — for sculpting
  4. tube — in a tire
  5. club — for golf
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. bear — the animal
  8. clip — to cut
  9. bear — the animal
  10. wave — a sudden rise
  11. hand — in cards
  12. bark — to shout
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. bear — to put up with
  15. club — a group
  16. tube — the underground
  17. wave — with your hand
  18. wave — of the sea
  19. tube — a container
  20. bark — of a tree
  21. wax — to grow
  22. clip — for paper
  23. clip — a video
  24. hand — part of the body

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