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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. He is an ace ________________.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  5. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  6. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  9. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  13. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  14. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  15. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  16. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  17. I'll be taking the ________________.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  20. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  21. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  22. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  23. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  24. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — in baseball
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. firm — steady
  5. wax — for sculpting
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. cold — an illness
  8. face — to point toward
  9. face — part of the head
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. wax — to grow
  13. firm — decided
  14. deal — a big deal
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. tube — in a tire
  17. tube — the underground
  18. cold — not warm
  19. tube — a container
  20. firm — a company
  21. deal — an agreement
  22. deal — to handle
  23. face — to confront
  24. bark — to shout

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