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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: sharp · shower · tube · field · cap · wax · bark · staff

  1. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  3. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  4. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. It's one o'clock ________________.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  10. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  15. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  16. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  17. I'll be taking the ________________.
  18. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  19. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. staff — employees
  3. staff — a stick
  4. bark — to shout
  5. field — a subject
  6. sharp — exactly
  7. field — farmland
  8. field — for sport
  9. cap — of ice
  10. sharp — with an edge
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. wax — for sculpting
  13. shower — rain
  14. tube — in a tire
  15. wax — in the ear
  16. cap — a hat
  17. tube — the underground
  18. tube — a container
  19. staff — employees
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. sharp — clever
  22. cap — a lid
  23. shower — to wash
  24. bark — of a tree

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