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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: shower · clip · fine · bark · craft · land · pound · wax

  1. When are we going to ________________?
  2. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  7. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  10. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  19. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  24. I assure you, everything's ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. fine — a penalty
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. clip — for paper
  6. pound — to hit hard
  7. pound — for dogs
  8. shower — to wash
  9. wax — to grow
  10. craft — boats
  11. clip — a video
  12. bark — to shout
  13. clip — to cut
  14. craft — a skill
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. fine — high quality
  17. land — ground
  18. pound — a weight
  19. wax — in the ear
  20. shower — rain
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. land — a country
  23. craft — a handicraft
  24. fine — all right

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