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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. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  3. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. What do you think of the new ________________?
  17. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  18. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  19. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  22. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  23. There's no middle ________________.
  24. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. ground — the earth
  3. wax — in the ear
  4. bat — the animal
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. last — finally
  7. track — a song
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. track — a path
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. clip — to cut
  12. clip — for paper
  13. clip — a video
  14. track — to keep track
  15. last — to go on
  16. cabinet — ministers
  17. wax — to grow
  18. wax — for sculpting
  19. ground — crushed
  20. bark — to shout
  21. cabinet — ministers
  22. last — final
  23. ground — a position
  24. cabinet — a cupboard

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