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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: wax · bark · arm · file · fall · game · pop · can

  1. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. My father caught me by the ________________.
  4. You don't need to ________________ round.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  7. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  10. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  14. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  15. We're almost out of ________________.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  18. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. can — a tin
  2. fall — to drop
  3. arm — part of the body
  4. pop — to visit
  5. file — a tool
  6. fall — the season
  7. can — to be able to
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. wax — to grow
  10. arm — part of the body
  11. bark — to shout
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. arm — a part of something
  14. fall — to drop
  15. pop — soda
  16. game — wild animals
  17. pop — music
  18. can — a tin
  19. game — a match
  20. file — a line of people
  21. wax — for sculpting
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. file — a document
  24. wax — in the ear

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