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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 116 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'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  6. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  7. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  10. Don't do anything ________________.
  11. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  14. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  15. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  16. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  17. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  20. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. That must've been a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. bark — to shout
  4. net — in sport
  5. wax — to grow
  6. rash — a series
  7. squash — to crush
  8. clip — a video
  9. pound — to hit hard
  10. rash — hasty
  11. wax — in the ear
  12. clip — to cut
  13. rush — to hurry
  14. pound — for dogs
  15. rush — hurry
  16. pound — a weight
  17. net — after costs
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. rash — on the skin
  20. squash — the vegetable
  21. net — for catching
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. clip — for paper
  24. rush — a thrill

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