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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. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. The light ________________ burned out.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  9. Have you met the new head ________________?
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. I've got to change the light ________________.
  19. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  20. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  21. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. bulb — for light
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. chair — a leader
  6. wax — for sculpting
  7. march — the month
  8. bulb — of a plant
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. bark — a dog's sound
  12. bark — to shout
  13. march — the month
  14. march — music
  15. tear — from crying
  16. band — a music group
  17. band — a ring
  18. bulb — for light
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. wax — to grow
  21. coach — pulled by horses
  22. tear — to rip
  23. wax — in the ear
  24. tear — from crying

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