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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. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  5. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  6. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  7. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  8. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  9. That was ________________ to happen.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  23. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  24. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — the fruit
  2. cold — an illness
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. club — for dancing
  5. wax — to grow
  6. trunk — of an elephant
  7. club — a group
  8. bound — obliged
  9. bound — certain
  10. prune — to trim
  11. prune — to trim
  12. cold — not warm
  13. race — the arms race
  14. race — a contest
  15. wax — in the ear
  16. degree — temperature
  17. trunk — of a car
  18. degree — from a university
  19. race — humankind
  20. degree — an amount
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. club — for golf
  23. bound — tied together
  24. wax — for sculpting

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