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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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  4. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  9. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  15. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  16. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  19. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  20. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  21. He is an ace ________________.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  24. The ________________ market has crashed.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. fall — the season
  4. track — a song
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. stock — goods
  7. prune — to trim
  8. track — to keep track
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. fall — to drop
  12. last — to go on
  13. bark — to shout
  14. prune — to trim
  15. wax — in the ear
  16. fall — to drop
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. track — a path
  20. bark — of a tree
  21. pitcher — in baseball
  22. last — finally
  23. wax — to grow
  24. stock — shares

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