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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 · nail · pitch · wax · prune · fan · chip · mine

  1. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  10. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  13. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  14. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  15. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. The ________________ went through the wall.
  18. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  19. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  20. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  21. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  22. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  23. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. mine — for digging
  4. nail — on a finger
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. bark — to shout
  7. wax — to grow
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. chip — to eat
  10. pitch — a sales talk
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. wax — for sculpting
  13. pitch — a sports field
  14. wax — in the ear
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. nail — for a hammer
  19. prune — to trim
  20. chip — for betting
  21. chip — in a computer
  22. pitch — completely
  23. prune — to trim
  24. mine — belonging to me

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