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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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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: perch · snap · wind · kid · wax · wound · swing · bark

  1. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  4. David sat on the ________________.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  13. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. wound — an injury
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. swing — to play on
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. wax — to grow
  9. swing — in golf
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. perch — the fish
  13. wax — in the ear
  14. bark — to shout
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. kid — to tease
  17. wind — moving air
  18. snap — to snap out of it
  19. swing — music
  20. wound — an injury
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. kid — child
  23. wax — for sculpting
  24. wind — moving air

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