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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: wax · pitcher · bark · cold · spring · rule · plane · mouse

  1. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. The ________________ took off on time.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  6. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  7. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  8. He is an ace ________________.
  9. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  15. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  21. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. plane — an aircraft
  3. spring — a coil
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. rule — a law
  6. mouse — the animal
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. pitcher — in baseball
  9. wax — to grow
  10. cold — not warm
  11. mouse — for a computer
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. plane — in geometry
  15. rule — to rule out
  16. spring — of water
  17. bark — to shout
  18. rule — government
  19. cold — an illness
  20. wax — for sculpting
  21. mouse — the animal
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. spring — the season
  24. plane — a tool

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