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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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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 · firm · bark · wound · deal · cold · face · straw

  1. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  11. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  16. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  20. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  21. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. firm — a company
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. cold — an illness
  5. deal — a big deal
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. wound — an injury
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. firm — decided
  11. wax — for sculpting
  12. bark — to shout
  13. face — to point toward
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. face — part of the head
  16. wax — to grow
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. deal — to handle
  20. firm — steady
  21. face — to confront
  22. cold — not warm
  23. deal — an agreement
  24. wound — an injury

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