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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: scale · wax · bark · snap · straw · pop · land · net

  1. When are we going to ________________?
  2. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  3. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  4. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  5. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  16. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  19. We're almost out of ________________.
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. You don't need to ________________ round.
  22. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  23. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  24. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. net — for catching
  3. pop — music
  4. scale — for weighing
  5. wax — to grow
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. land — a country
  9. scale — in music
  10. bark — to shout
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. net — in sport
  15. snap — to speak sharply
  16. wax — for sculpting
  17. land — ground
  18. net — after costs
  19. pop — soda
  20. scale — size or range
  21. pop — to visit
  22. snap — to snap out of it
  23. wax — in the ear
  24. snap — to click

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