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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 120 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. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  4. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  9. My father caught me by the ________________.
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  15. Where did you ________________ them?
  16. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  17. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  18. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  19. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  22. The ________________ went through the wall.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. squash — the sport
  4. nail — on a finger
  5. bark — to shout
  6. mug — a cup
  7. chest — of your body
  8. wax — in the ear
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. nail — for a hammer
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. chest — of your body
  14. wax — to grow
  15. mug — to rob
  16. mug — a face
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. squash — the vegetable
  19. arm — a part of something
  20. capital — a city
  21. squash — to crush
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. chest — a box
  24. capital — money

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