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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: bark · mark · swing · rash · straw · ground · spring · wax

  1. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  7. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  8. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  9. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  10. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. David sat on the ________________.
  21. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. rash — hasty
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. ground — crushed
  6. swing — in golf
  7. mark — a grade
  8. mark — a trace
  9. mark — to pay attention
  10. swing — music
  11. wax — to grow
  12. spring — of water
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. spring — a coil
  16. rash — a series
  17. ground — a position
  18. ground — the earth
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. swing — to play on
  21. rash — on the skin
  22. bark — to shout
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. wax — for sculpting

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