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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. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. You don't need to ________________ round.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  6. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  13. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  14. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  15. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. We're almost out of ________________.
  19. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  20. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  21. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  22. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  23. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. prune — to trim
  3. pop — to visit
  4. wound — an injury
  5. hide — animal skin
  6. wave — with your hand
  7. wax — to grow
  8. wound — an injury
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. kid — child
  12. wave — a sudden rise
  13. ruler — for measuring
  14. prune — to trim
  15. ruler — a monarch
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. kid — to tease
  18. pop — soda
  19. ruler — for measuring
  20. pop — music
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. wax — for sculpting
  23. wave — of the sea
  24. prune — the fruit

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