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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: roll · foot · capital · bark · wax · wound · sharp · rash

  1. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  2. It's one o'clock ________________.
  3. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  4. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  12. Don't do anything ________________.
  13. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  14. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  15. We're on a ________________ here.
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  23. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  24. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — on the skin
  2. sharp — exactly
  3. wax — for sculpting
  4. sharp — clever
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. wound — an injury
  8. wax — in the ear
  9. capital — money
  10. bark — to shout
  11. foot — a measure
  12. rash — hasty
  13. foot — part of the body
  14. roll — a cake
  15. roll — on a roll
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. wax — to grow
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. capital — a city
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. wound — an injury
  22. rash — a series
  23. foot — the bottom
  24. roll — a list

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