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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: wound · spring · lie · file · bark · game · wax · bear

  1. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  15. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  21. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  22. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  23. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. wax — to grow
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. file — a document
  5. game — wild animals
  6. bear — the animal
  7. bark — to shout
  8. spring — the season
  9. bear — to put up with
  10. spring — a coil
  11. wound — an injury
  12. spring — of water
  13. game — a match
  14. wax — for sculpting
  15. wax — in the ear
  16. wound — an injury
  17. lie — an untruth
  18. file — a line of people
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. lie — to recline
  22. bear — the animal
  23. bark — a dog's sound
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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