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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 120 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 took the fish out of the ________________.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  8. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. When was this ________________ built?
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  21. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  22. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  23. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — for catching
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. lean — thin
  4. net — after costs
  5. wax — to grow
  6. capital — a city
  7. lean — to rest against
  8. bank — for money
  9. file — a tool
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. lean — to bend
  12. file — a document
  13. temple — a place of worship
  14. capital — money
  15. wax — for sculpting
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. bank — for money
  18. bark — to shout
  19. file — a line of people
  20. temple — a place of worship
  21. bank — of a river
  22. temple — side of the head
  23. bark — a dog's sound
  24. net — in sport

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