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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: wax · kick · bore · content · bark · snap · last · hand

  1. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  5. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  12. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  15. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  16. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  20. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. content — videos and posts
  3. last — final
  4. kick — in football
  5. bore — to drill
  6. last — to go on
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. content — happy
  9. hand — in cards
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. bore — gave birth
  12. snap — to snap out of it
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. wax — in the ear
  15. wax — to grow
  16. kick — a thrill
  17. content — the amount
  18. bark — to shout
  19. wax — for sculpting
  20. kick — with a leg
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. hand — help
  23. bore — to tire
  24. last — finally

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