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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. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  2. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  8. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  9. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  12. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  20. How do you ________________ your surname?
  21. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  22. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  24. The moon will ________________ and wane.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — magic
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. ground — a position
  4. bass — low music
  5. ground — crushed
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. leaves — lets stay
  8. racket — a loud noise
  9. wax — for sculpting
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. bass — the instrument
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. spell — a short time
  14. clip — to cut
  15. clip — for paper
  16. leaves — of a tree
  17. ground — the earth
  18. clip — a video
  19. leaves — to go away
  20. spell — letters
  21. wax — in the ear
  22. bass — the fish
  23. bark — to shout
  24. wax — to grow

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