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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. The King held a masked ________________.
  2. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  8. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  17. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  22. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a dance
  2. foot — a measure
  3. wax — to grow
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. bass — the fish
  6. shower — to wash
  7. foot — the bottom
  8. foot — part of the body
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. wind — moving air
  11. ball — a great time
  12. race — a contest
  13. wax — in the ear
  14. bark — to shout
  15. wind — moving air
  16. bass — the instrument
  17. bass — low music
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. shower — rain
  20. race — humankind
  21. ball — a round shape
  22. wax — for sculpting
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. race — the arms race

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