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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 soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  2. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  9. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  20. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  24. There's a computer ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — army training
  2. bark — to shout
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. branch — of a tree
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. chip — for betting
  7. wax — to grow
  8. scale — for weighing
  9. chip — to eat
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. branch — a division
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. drill — a practice
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. wax — for sculpting
  16. scale — size or range
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. drill — the tool
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. branch — of a bank
  23. scale — in music
  24. chip — in a computer

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