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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: file · wax · row · bark · swing · prune · staff · tear

  1. David sat on the ________________.
  2. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  9. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  21. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. The old man leaned on his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — to play on
  2. swing — music
  3. file — a tool
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. wax — for sculpting
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. file — a document
  8. staff — employees
  9. swing — in golf
  10. tear — from crying
  11. file — a line of people
  12. row — to paddle
  13. tear — from crying
  14. bark — to shout
  15. prune — to trim
  16. staff — employees
  17. tear — to rip
  18. prune — to trim
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. wax — in the ear
  21. wax — to grow
  22. row — a line
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. staff — a stick

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