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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: clip · bark · club · wax · ruler · stem

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  6. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  10. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  13. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  14. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  15. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  16. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  17. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. wax — for sculpting
  4. clip — to cut
  5. club — for golf
  6. ruler — for measuring
  7. clip — a video
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. ruler — for measuring
  10. club — a group
  11. bark — to shout
  12. club — for dancing
  13. wax — in the ear
  14. wax — to grow
  15. stem — to come from
  16. ruler — a monarch
  17. stem — a stem cell
  18. stem — of a plant

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