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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. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  2. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  4. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  20. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  21. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  24. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the vegetable
  2. wax — to grow
  3. bark — to shout
  4. trunk — of an elephant
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. content — happy
  7. content — the amount
  8. current — of water
  9. prune — to trim
  10. current — electric
  11. file — a document
  12. squash — the sport
  13. file — a tool
  14. file — a line of people
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. wax — in the ear
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. prune — to trim
  20. trunk — of a car
  21. wax — for sculpting
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. current — happening now
  24. squash — to crush

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