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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: bark · craft · spring · fan · mine · clip · march · wax

  1. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  6. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  10. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  15. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. clip — to cut
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. craft — boats
  6. wax — for sculpting
  7. spring — a coil
  8. spring — of water
  9. craft — a skill
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. wax — to grow
  12. march — the month
  13. clip — for paper
  14. fan — to cool the air
  15. craft — a handicraft
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. wax — in the ear
  19. clip — a video
  20. march — the month
  21. mine — for digging
  22. spring — the season
  23. march — music
  24. bark — to shout

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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