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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 · clip · bark · stand · press · spring · staff · lie

  1. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  7. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  11. Did you ________________ the button?
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  14. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  15. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  16. I can't ________________ this cold.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  20. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  23. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  24. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. clip — to cut
  3. spring — the season
  4. staff — employees
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. lie — an untruth
  7. lie — an untruth
  8. bark — to shout
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. staff — employees
  11. press — to push
  12. clip — for paper
  13. lie — to recline
  14. staff — a stick
  15. wax — in the ear
  16. stand — to bear
  17. clip — a video
  18. spring — a coil
  19. stand — on your feet
  20. stand — for spectators
  21. spring — of water
  22. wax — for sculpting
  23. press — a publisher
  24. press — newspapers

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