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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. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  2. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  5. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  8. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  15. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  16. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  17. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  18. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  19. Have you found your soul ________________?
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  22. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  23. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  24. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — the fruit
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. field — a subject
  4. scale — in music
  5. mate — to breed
  6. prune — to trim
  7. wax — for sculpting
  8. wax — in the ear
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. leaves — of a tree
  11. field — for sport
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. prune — to trim
  14. leaves — to go away
  15. scale — size or range
  16. wax — to grow
  17. wake — to stop sleeping
  18. wake — a trail
  19. mate — a partner
  20. field — farmland
  21. mate — a friend
  22. squash — to crush
  23. squash — the sport
  24. leaves — lets stay

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