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

  1. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  13. The King held a masked ________________.
  14. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  15. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  18. It's one o'clock ________________.
  19. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. wax — to grow
  3. ground — the earth
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. last — to go on
  6. ground — a position
  7. ball — a great time
  8. ground — crushed
  9. spring — the season
  10. ball — a round shape
  11. last — finally
  12. snap — to snap out of it
  13. ball — a dance
  14. snap — to click
  15. wax — in the ear
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. sharp — clever
  18. sharp — exactly
  19. prune — to trim
  20. spring — a coil
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. last — final
  23. spring — of water
  24. prune — to trim

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