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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. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  3. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. I can't ________________ this cold.
  9. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  10. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  11. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  12. Have you found your soul ________________?
  13. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  14. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  15. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  16. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  20. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  21. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. branch — of a tree
  3. branch — a division
  4. hand — help
  5. hand — in cards
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. stand — to bear
  9. stand — for spectators
  10. wax — to grow
  11. cap — of ice
  12. mate — a partner
  13. branch — of a bank
  14. cap — a lid
  15. stand — on your feet
  16. mate — a friend
  17. kid — child
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. cap — a hat
  20. bark — of a tree
  21. mate — to breed
  22. bark — to shout
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. kid — to tease

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