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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: wax · bark · tear · cell · wound · straw · staff · season

  1. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  16. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. season — of the year
  3. tear — from crying
  4. cell — a phone
  5. season — in sport
  6. tear — from crying
  7. wound — an injury
  8. wax — in the ear
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. cell — in biology
  11. bark — to shout
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. staff — employees
  14. wound — an injury
  15. wax — to grow
  16. wax — for sculpting
  17. tear — to rip
  18. staff — a stick
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. staff — employees
  24. straw — dry grass

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