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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 moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. We're almost out of ________________.
  4. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  11. You don't need to ________________ round.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  19. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  20. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  21. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. pop — soda
  4. rule — a law
  5. net — in sport
  6. stick — a piece of wood
  7. land — a country
  8. pop — music
  9. land — ground
  10. stick — to attach or keep to
  11. pop — to visit
  12. spring — the season
  13. land — to come down
  14. wax — for sculpting
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. spring — of water
  17. prune — to trim
  18. prune — to trim
  19. stick — a piece of wood
  20. rule — to rule out
  21. rule — government
  22. spring — a coil
  23. net — for catching
  24. net — after costs

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