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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. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  4. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  7. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  8. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. The King held a masked ________________.
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  24. The kitten curled into a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — a dog's sound
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. wax — in the ear
  4. ball — a great time
  5. race — humankind
  6. bowl — a dish
  7. bowl — a football final
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. wind — moving air
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. wax — to grow
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. bat — the animal
  15. race — the arms race
  16. bark — to shout
  17. wind — moving air
  18. bowl — to roll
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. ball — a dance
  22. race — a contest
  23. hide — animal skin
  24. ball — a round shape

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