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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: fall · lean · wax · mine · ball · bark · tube · cell

  1. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. I'll be taking the ________________.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  14. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  15. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  16. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  17. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  18. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. The King held a masked ________________.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  23. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  24. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. wax — to grow
  3. fall — to drop
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. cell — a phone
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. tube — the underground
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. bark — to shout
  12. fall — to drop
  13. lean — to bend
  14. tube — in a tire
  15. wax — in the ear
  16. lean — to rest against
  17. lean — thin
  18. ball — a round shape
  19. cell — in biology
  20. ball — a dance
  21. mine — for digging
  22. ball — a great time
  23. tube — a container
  24. fall — the season

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