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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. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  3. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  8. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  9. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  18. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  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. wax — in the ear
  2. perch — the fish
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. fork — to eat with
  9. fork — in a road
  10. row — to paddle
  11. bat — the animal
  12. wax — to grow
  13. game — wild animals
  14. fork — a garden tool
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. game — a match
  17. cap — of ice
  18. cap — a hat
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. row — a line
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. cap — a lid
  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