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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 · club · plane · cold · bark · cabinet · hide · degree

  1. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. What do you think of the new ________________?
  7. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  8. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  12. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. The ________________ took off on time.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  18. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  23. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  24. The moon will ________________ and wane.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. cold — not warm
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. cold — an illness
  6. cabinet — ministers
  7. club — a group
  8. club — for dancing
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. wax — in the ear
  12. plane — in geometry
  13. degree — an amount
  14. degree — from a university
  15. plane — an aircraft
  16. bark — to shout
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. hide — animal skin
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. cabinet — a cupboard
  21. degree — temperature
  22. plane — a tool
  23. cabinet — ministers
  24. wax — to grow

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