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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 120 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: scale · rest · current · tear · wound · sharp · bark · wax

  1. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  12. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  13. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  14. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  15. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  16. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  17. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  18. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  24. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. current — electric
  3. wax — to grow
  4. tear — from crying
  5. wound — an injury
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. tear — from crying
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. sharp — with an edge
  12. current — happening now
  13. rest — a break
  14. rest — what's left
  15. scale — size or range
  16. current — of water
  17. wax — in the ear
  18. rest — what's left
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. sharp — clever
  21. wound — an injury
  22. tear — to rip
  23. scale — in music
  24. bark — to shout

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