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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: cell · bark · wax · capital · row · staff

  1. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  5. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — to shout
  2. capital — money
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. staff — employees
  5. wax — to grow
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. wax — in the ear
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. staff — a stick
  10. row — a line
  11. wax — for sculpting
  12. cell — in biology
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. cell — a phone
  15. staff — employees
  16. row — to paddle
  17. capital — a city
  18. bark — of a tree

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