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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. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  3. Have you settled on a ________________?
  4. My father caught me by the ________________.
  5. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  9. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  10. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  16. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. We're on a ________________ here.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  21. What do you think of the new ________________?
  22. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  24. It's one o'clock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. wax — for sculpting
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. roll — a list
  10. date — the fruit
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. sharp — with an edge
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. sharp — clever
  15. roll — a cake
  16. cabinet — ministers
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. roll — on a roll
  19. bat — the animal
  20. arm — a part of something
  21. cabinet — ministers
  22. cabinet — a cupboard
  23. bark — to shout
  24. sharp — exactly

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