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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: season · ground · cue · bark · rash · wax · net · row

  1. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  5. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  6. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  7. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. Did you ________________ the meat?
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. Don't do anything ________________.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  20. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. net — for catching
  4. rash — on the skin
  5. cue — for pool
  6. season — of the year
  7. rash — a series
  8. net — in sport
  9. ground — crushed
  10. row — a line
  11. wax — for sculpting
  12. ground — a position
  13. season — to add flavour
  14. ground — the earth
  15. rash — hasty
  16. bark — to shout
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. season — in sport
  20. cue — a signal
  21. net — after costs
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. cue — a hint
  24. row — to paddle

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