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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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  7. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  10. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  11. It's one o'clock ________________.
  12. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  13. She's very handy with a ________________.
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  18. When will it ________________ you to start?
  19. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. He works in a ________________ mill.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. last — to go on
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. ground — crushed
  5. bark — to shout
  6. saw — past of 'see'
  7. suit — in cards
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. wax — for sculpting
  10. wax — in the ear
  11. sharp — exactly
  12. sharp — clever
  13. saw — the tool
  14. ground — a position
  15. ground — the earth
  16. spring — a coil
  17. suit — clothes
  18. suit — to fit
  19. wax — to grow
  20. spring — of water
  21. saw — the tool
  22. last — finally
  23. sharp — with an edge
  24. spring — the season

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