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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  17. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. spell — magic
  3. last — finally
  4. spell — a short time
  5. cap — of ice
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. cap — a hat
  10. spell — letters
  11. wax — to grow
  12. wax — for sculpting
  13. prune — to trim
  14. last — to go on
  15. prune — to trim
  16. cap — a lid
  17. wax — in the ear
  18. straw — to clutch at straws

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