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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. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  2. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  3. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  19. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — thin
  2. lean — to bend
  3. wake — to stop sleeping
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. wax — to grow
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. wax — for sculpting
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. prune — to trim
  12. rest — what's left
  13. wake — a trail
  14. wake — before a funeral
  15. bat — the animal
  16. rest — what's left
  17. court — of law
  18. rest — a break
  19. lean — to rest against
  20. prune — to trim
  21. court — of a king
  22. court — for sport
  23. cold — not warm
  24. cold — an illness

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