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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. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. My father caught me by the ________________.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  12. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  13. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  17. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  18. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  19. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  20. He is an ace ________________.
  21. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  24. The moon will ________________ and wane.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. hand — help
  5. arm — a part of something
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. cap — a lid
  8. hand — in cards
  9. wax — for sculpting
  10. capital — a city
  11. wake — a trail
  12. cap — a hat
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. bark — to shout
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. wake — before a funeral
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. wax — in the ear
  19. cap — of ice
  20. pitcher — in baseball
  21. wake — to stop sleeping
  22. capital — money
  23. bark — a dog's sound
  24. wax — to grow

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