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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
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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 · tear · land · cold · key · game · bark · lean

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. This piece is in a major ________________.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  21. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. lean — thin
  3. game — a match
  4. tear — to rip
  5. tear — from crying
  6. key — for a lock
  7. bark — to shout
  8. key — the most important part
  9. cold — an illness
  10. wax — to grow
  11. game — wild animals
  12. key — in music
  13. land — to come down
  14. wax — for sculpting
  15. tear — from crying
  16. land — a country
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. lean — to rest against
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. lean — to bend
  21. wax — in the ear
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. land — ground
  24. bark — a dog's sound

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