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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. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  10. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  11. He is an ace ________________.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  15. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  16. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  17. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  18. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  19. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  20. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  21. Did you ________________ the meat?
  22. I'll be taking the ________________.
  23. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  24. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. season — of the year
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. kid — child
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. prune — to trim
  8. prune — to trim
  9. lean — to rest against
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. pitcher — in baseball
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. kid — to tease
  14. season — in sport
  15. wax — to grow
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. tube — a container
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. patient — calm and waiting
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. season — to add flavour
  22. tube — the underground
  23. lean — thin
  24. tube — in a tire

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