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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. I've got to change the light ________________.
  2. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  3. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  7. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  8. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  11. The light ________________ burned out.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  18. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  19. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — for light
  2. kick — in football
  3. kick — with a leg
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. shower — rain
  6. kick — a thrill
  7. wax — in the ear
  8. pit — a hole
  9. last — final
  10. wax — to grow
  11. bulb — for light
  12. shower — to wash
  13. cold — not warm
  14. last — to go on
  15. wax — for sculpting
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. pit — in a race
  18. pit — a fruit stone
  19. bulb — of a plant
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. cold — an illness
  23. bark — to shout
  24. last — finally

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