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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. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  5. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  6. That must've been a ________________.
  7. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  8. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. He is an ace ________________.
  11. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  14. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  15. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  18. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  19. The King held a masked ________________.
  20. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  21. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  24. You shouldn't ________________ things.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. prune — to trim
  3. spring — of water
  4. ball — a great time
  5. wax — to grow
  6. rush — a thrill
  7. cap — of ice
  8. rush — hurry
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. pitcher — in baseball
  11. wax — in the ear
  12. spring — the season
  13. fork — in a road
  14. cap — a lid
  15. fork — to eat with
  16. spring — a coil
  17. wax — for sculpting
  18. ball — a round shape
  19. ball — a dance
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. cap — a hat
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. prune — to trim
  24. rush — to hurry

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