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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 moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  8. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  9. Don't do anything ________________.
  10. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  11. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  12. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  13. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  14. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  15. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  16. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  19. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. Should I buy a wireless ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. cold — an illness
  3. mine — for digging
  4. trunk — of an elephant
  5. bark — to shout
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. dip — to dunk
  8. dip — to sink
  9. rash — hasty
  10. wax — in the ear
  11. mouse — the animal
  12. trunk — of a car
  13. mouse — the animal
  14. rash — on the skin
  15. wax — for sculpting
  16. dip — a sauce
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. rash — a series
  19. trunk — of a tree
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. cold — not warm
  24. mouse — for a computer

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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