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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: shower · bowl · foot · wax · bark · stand · craft · cold

  1. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  6. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  10. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  11. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  12. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  13. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  14. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  15. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. I can't ________________ this cold.
  20. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — boats
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. bowl — a football final
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. wax — to grow
  6. stand — on your feet
  7. shower — rain
  8. shower — to wash
  9. foot — the bottom
  10. craft — a handicraft
  11. foot — a measure
  12. bowl — a dish
  13. wax — in the ear
  14. bowl — to roll
  15. stand — for spectators
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. bark — to shout
  19. stand — to bear
  20. foot — part of the body
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. cold — not warm
  23. cold — an illness
  24. craft — a skill

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