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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 ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  2. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  8. Have you settled on a ________________?
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  13. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  14. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  23. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  24. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — the earth
  2. bark — to shout
  3. ground — crushed
  4. branch — a division
  5. march — music
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. drill — army training
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. drill — a practice
  11. clip — for paper
  12. branch — of a bank
  13. wax — for sculpting
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. clip — a video
  16. date — the fruit
  17. clip — to cut
  18. march — the month
  19. ground — a position
  20. bark — of a tree
  21. march — the month
  22. drill — the tool
  23. wax — to grow
  24. branch — of a tree

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