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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: bear · clip · drill · wax · pitcher · bark · sharp · band

  1. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  2. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  3. It's one o'clock ________________.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  10. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  13. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  24. He's quite ________________, isn't he?

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

Answer key

  1. bear — to put up with
  2. bear — the animal
  3. sharp — exactly
  4. clip — a video
  5. clip — to cut
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. wax — in the ear
  8. band — a music group
  9. wax — to grow
  10. bear — the animal
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. sharp — with an edge
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. clip — for paper
  16. drill — the tool
  17. bark — to shout
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. drill — a practice
  21. band — a ring
  22. drill — army training
  23. wax — for sculpting
  24. sharp — clever

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