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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. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  4. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  10. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  11. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. That was ________________ to happen.
  23. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  24. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — obliged
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. bark — to shout
  4. bore — to tire
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. prune — to trim
  8. wake — a trail
  9. bound — tied together
  10. wax — to grow
  11. wake — before a funeral
  12. spring — a coil
  13. bore — to drill
  14. hand — help
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. bore — gave birth
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. spring — the season
  19. spring — of water
  20. hand — in cards
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. bound — certain
  23. prune — to trim
  24. wake — to stop sleeping

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