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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: chair · hand · rush · bark · cold · pass · field · wax

  1. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  8. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  9. That must've been a ________________.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  20. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  21. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  22. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  23. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. bark — to shout
  4. hand — help
  5. field — for sport
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. rush — hurry
  8. pass — to succeed
  9. rush — a thrill
  10. chair — a leader
  11. field — farmland
  12. field — a subject
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. chair — to sit on
  15. cold — not warm
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. rush — to hurry
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. pass — a permit
  20. wax — to grow
  21. wax — for sculpting
  22. pass — to spend time
  23. chair — a professorship
  24. cold — an illness

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