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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 116 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 band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. My mare is ________________ in color.
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  9. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  10. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. How do you ________________ your surname?
  14. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  15. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  16. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. wound — an injury
  4. prune — to trim
  5. bay — a horse colour
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. prune — to trim
  8. bay — to keep at bay
  9. bay — a part of the sea
  10. spell — a short time
  11. march — the month
  12. tear — from crying
  13. spell — letters
  14. stem — of a plant
  15. spell — magic
  16. stem — a stem cell
  17. tear — to rip
  18. stem — to come from
  19. march — the month
  20. wax — to grow
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. tear — from crying
  23. wound — an injury
  24. prune — the fruit

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