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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.

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: staff · fork · bark · mine · race · pop · wax · last

  1. We're almost out of ________________.
  2. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  3. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  4. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  5. You don't need to ________________ round.
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  10. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  24. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — soda
  2. fork — in a road
  3. fork — to eat with
  4. bark — to shout
  5. pop — to visit
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. last — final
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. wax — for sculpting
  10. staff — employees
  11. mine — for digging
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. wax — to grow
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. pop — music
  16. race — a contest
  17. last — to go on
  18. last — finally
  19. race — humankind
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. staff — a stick
  22. race — the arms race
  23. fork — a garden tool
  24. staff — employees

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