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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. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  4. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  15. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  16. Where did you ________________ them?
  17. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  24. He refilled his coffee ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. leaves — to go away
  4. mug — a face
  5. field — for sport
  6. wax — to grow
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. band — a music group
  9. fall — to drop
  10. field — farmland
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. fall — to drop
  13. field — a subject
  14. leaves — lets stay
  15. band — a ring
  16. mug — to rob
  17. fall — the season
  18. prune — to trim
  19. prune — to trim
  20. leaves — of a tree
  21. wind — moving air
  22. wind — moving air
  23. wax — in the ear
  24. mug — a cup

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