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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 sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  2. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  8. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  13. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  14. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  15. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  16. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  21. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — to shout
  2. cue — a hint
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. content — happy
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. ground — crushed
  7. wax — for sculpting
  8. hide — animal skin
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. sharp — clever
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. cue — a signal
  13. sharp — with an edge
  14. wax — in the ear
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. row — to paddle
  19. row — a line
  20. wax — to grow
  21. cue — for pool
  22. ground — the earth
  23. content — the amount
  24. ground — a position

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