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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.

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: bark · ground · race · swing · fan · wax · mine · drill

  1. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  5. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  6. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. David sat on the ________________.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  20. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  21. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  22. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. ground — crushed
  3. ground — a position
  4. race — the arms race
  5. drill — the tool
  6. wax — for sculpting
  7. drill — a practice
  8. bark — to shout
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. mine — for digging
  11. wax — to grow
  12. race — a contest
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. ground — the earth
  16. race — humankind
  17. swing — to play on
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. drill — army training
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. wax — in the ear
  23. swing — music
  24. swing — in golf

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