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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: race · wax · bark · saw · drill · land · lean · spell

  1. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  7. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. He works in a ________________ mill.
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. She's very handy with a ________________.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — a short time
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. bark — to shout
  4. spell — letters
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. lean — to rest against
  7. saw — past of 'see'
  8. land — ground
  9. wax — in the ear
  10. race — humankind
  11. lean — thin
  12. land — a country
  13. saw — the tool
  14. spell — magic
  15. lean — to bend
  16. race — a contest
  17. land — to come down
  18. drill — army training
  19. drill — a practice
  20. wax — to grow
  21. drill — the tool
  22. race — the arms race
  23. saw — the tool
  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