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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. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  5. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  8. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  9. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  12. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  13. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  16. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  17. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  18. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  19. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  20. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. mate — a friend
  3. wake — before a funeral
  4. wake — to stop sleeping
  5. wake — a trail
  6. bark — to shout
  7. sharp — with an edge
  8. wax — in the ear
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. wax — for sculpting
  12. mate — to breed
  13. rock — to move gently
  14. scale — size or range
  15. scale — in music
  16. rock — a stone
  17. racket — a loud noise
  18. rock — music
  19. sharp — clever
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. wax — to grow
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. scale — for weighing

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