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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. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  15. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  16. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. He is an ace ________________.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  23. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  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. pitcher — a jug
  2. face — part of the head
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. prune — to trim
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. face — to point toward
  7. mine — for digging
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. band — a ring
  10. wax — to grow
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. band — a music group
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. face — to confront
  15. foot — part of the body
  16. wax — in the ear
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. pitcher — in baseball
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. foot — the bottom
  23. foot — a measure
  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