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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. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. It's one o'clock ________________.
  8. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  9. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  10. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  11. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  12. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  13. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  14. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  15. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. bat — the animal
  4. trunk — of a car
  5. march — the month
  6. prune — to trim
  7. sharp — exactly
  8. stem — of a plant
  9. wax — for sculpting
  10. trunk — of a tree
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. trunk — of an elephant
  13. wax — to grow
  14. wax — in the ear
  15. sharp — clever
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. stem — a stem cell
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. march — music
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. stem — to come from
  23. march — the month
  24. pitcher — a jug

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