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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 120 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: straw · bark · temple · wax · snap · tube · game · cell

  1. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  3. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. When was this ________________ built?
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. I'll be taking the ________________.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. tube — a container
  3. wax — in the ear
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. tube — in a tire
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. wax — to grow
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. snap — to click
  10. cell — in biology
  11. temple — side of the head
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. temple — a place of worship
  14. bark — to shout
  15. game — a match
  16. cell — a phone
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. temple — a place of worship
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. tube — the underground
  24. game — wild animals

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