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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. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  3. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  4. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  5. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  6. Have you found your soul ________________?
  7. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  10. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  14. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. Don't do anything ________________.
  19. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  20. Have you met the new head ________________?
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  24. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. wax — in the ear
  4. rash — on the skin
  5. lean — thin
  6. mate — a partner
  7. coach — pulled by horses
  8. clip — a video
  9. lean — to bend
  10. rash — a series
  11. clip — to cut
  12. bark — to shout
  13. wax — for sculpting
  14. mate — to breed
  15. wind — moving air
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. rash — hasty
  19. lean — to rest against
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. clip — for paper
  22. wind — moving air
  23. wax — to grow
  24. mate — a friend

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