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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. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  3. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  6. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  10. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  14. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  15. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. drill — army training
  3. wax — in the ear
  4. mine — for digging
  5. wake — before a funeral
  6. pound — a weight
  7. wax — to grow
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. wake — a trail
  10. pound — for dogs
  11. prune — to trim
  12. drill — a practice
  13. wake — to stop sleeping
  14. prune — to trim
  15. pound — to hit hard
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. drill — the tool

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