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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. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. Don't do anything ________________.
  16. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  17. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  23. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  24. I seem to be developing a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. cell — a phone
  3. scale — in music
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. pit — in a race
  6. cell — in biology
  7. row — to paddle
  8. pit — a hole
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. content — happy
  11. rash — a series
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. row — a line
  14. content — the amount
  15. rash — hasty
  16. wax — in the ear
  17. scale — for weighing
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. pit — a fruit stone
  20. bark — to shout
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. scale — size or range
  23. wax — to grow
  24. rash — on the skin

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