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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 120 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 cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  6. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  12. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  13. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  14. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  15. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. When was this ________________ built?
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  22. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  23. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. prune — the fruit
  2. prune — to trim
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. row — a line
  5. temple — a place of worship
  6. lean — thin
  7. row — to paddle
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. prune — to trim
  10. land — ground
  11. wax — in the ear
  12. cap — a lid
  13. wax — for sculpting
  14. lean — to rest against
  15. lean — to bend
  16. capital — money
  17. temple — a place of worship
  18. capital — a city
  19. cap — a hat
  20. land — a country
  21. cap — of ice
  22. wax — to grow
  23. temple — side of the head
  24. land — to come down

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