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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. He works in a ________________ mill.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. She's very handy with a ________________.
  5. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  12. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  13. David sat on the ________________.
  14. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  20. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  21. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  22. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. shower — to wash
  3. kid — child
  4. saw — the tool
  5. wax — to grow
  6. kid — to tease
  7. wax — for sculpting
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. prune — to trim
  10. prune — to trim
  11. wax — in the ear
  12. root — of a word
  13. swing — to play on
  14. swing — music
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. swing — in golf
  17. root — of a plant
  18. shower — rain
  19. trunk — of a car
  20. trunk — of a tree
  21. saw — past of 'see'
  22. trunk — of an elephant
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. root — the cause

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