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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: rest · chip · game · prune · bark · row · lean · wax

  1. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  3. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  4. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  10. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  11. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  12. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  17. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  18. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  24. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. lean — to bend
  3. wax — for sculpting
  4. wax — to grow
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. rest — what's left
  8. game — a match
  9. wax — in the ear
  10. rest — what's left
  11. bark — a dog's sound
  12. chip — in a computer
  13. game — wild animals
  14. rest — a break
  15. row — a line
  16. chip — to eat
  17. lean — thin
  18. lean — to rest against
  19. bark — to shout
  20. prune — to trim
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. row — to paddle
  23. prune — to trim
  24. chip — for betting

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