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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: bark · cold · wound · cell · pop · land · wax · cue

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. You don't need to ________________ round.
  15. We're almost out of ________________.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  24. I'll take my ________________ from you.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. cue — a signal
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. land — to come down
  8. cue — for pool
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. cell — a phone
  11. land — a country
  12. wax — to grow
  13. wound — an injury
  14. pop — to visit
  15. pop — soda
  16. wound — an injury
  17. pop — music
  18. cold — not warm
  19. land — ground
  20. bark — to shout
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. cell — in biology
  23. wax — in the ear
  24. cue — a hint

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