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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. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. It's one o'clock ________________.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  9. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. How do you ________________ your surname?
  17. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  18. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  19. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  20. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — a dog's sound
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. wax — to grow
  4. spell — magic
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. sharp — exactly
  7. content — the amount
  8. current — electric
  9. ruler — a monarch
  10. content — happy
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. ruler — for measuring
  13. capital — money
  14. sharp — clever
  15. capital — a city
  16. spell — letters
  17. current — of water
  18. sharp — with an edge
  19. wax — for sculpting
  20. ruler — for measuring
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. bark — to shout
  23. spell — a short time
  24. current — happening now

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