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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: wax · saw · bark · wave · swing · hand · wind · rule

  1. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  3. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  4. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. She's very handy with a ________________.
  7. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  10. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  11. He works in a ________________ mill.
  12. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  13. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  14. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. David sat on the ________________.
  18. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  24. The moon will ________________ and wane.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. wave — with your hand
  3. wax — for sculpting
  4. rule — to rule out
  5. hand — in cards
  6. saw — the tool
  7. rule — government
  8. wind — moving air
  9. wave — a sudden rise
  10. rule — a law
  11. saw — the tool
  12. swing — music
  13. wax — in the ear
  14. swing — in golf
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. bark — to shout
  17. swing — to play on
  18. saw — past of 'see'
  19. hand — help
  20. wind — moving air
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. wave — of the sea
  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