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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. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  2. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  3. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  10. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. David sat on the ________________.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — a drink to someone
  2. toast — bread
  3. bear — to put up with
  4. last — to go on
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. swing — in golf
  7. row — a line
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. wax — to grow
  10. bear — the animal
  11. bark — to shout
  12. wax — in the ear
  13. game — a match
  14. swing — music
  15. last — final
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. game — wild animals
  19. bear — the animal
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. toast — the most admired
  22. row — to paddle
  23. swing — to play on
  24. last — finally

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