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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  5. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  6. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  11. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  12. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  17. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  20. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  21. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  22. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  23. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  24. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. band — a ring
  4. club — for dancing
  5. track — a song
  6. staff — employees
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. wax — in the ear
  11. scale — in music
  12. scale — size or range
  13. band — a music group
  14. bark — to shout
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. track — to keep track
  17. staff — employees
  18. cold — an illness
  19. scale — for weighing
  20. club — for golf
  21. wax — to grow
  22. club — a group
  23. staff — a stick
  24. track — a path

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