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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: sharp · wound · hand · hide · bark · wax · object · file

  1. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  10. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  13. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. We have nothing to ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — with an edge
  2. wound — an injury
  3. sharp — clever
  4. bark — to shout
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. hand — in cards
  7. file — a tool
  8. wax — to grow
  9. object — to protest
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. wax — for sculpting
  13. hide — animal skin
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. wound — an injury
  16. object — an aim
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. file — a document
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. file — a line of people
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. object — a thing
  23. hand — help
  24. hide — to keep secret

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