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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 116 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 · shower · root · trunk · land · prune · bark · board

  1. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  6. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  14. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — to shout
  2. prune — to trim
  3. wax — for sculpting
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. board — to get on
  6. trunk — of a tree
  7. shower — to wash
  8. board — a committee
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. wax — to grow
  11. land — ground
  12. prune — to trim
  13. root — of a word
  14. root — of a plant
  15. land — to come down
  16. trunk — of an elephant
  17. shower — rain
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. land — a country
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. board — a flat piece
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. root — the cause
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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