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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 116 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 polar ice ________________ is melting.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  9. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. We're almost out of ________________.
  12. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. You don't need to ________________ round.
  16. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  17. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  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. prune — to trim
  2. cap — of ice
  3. land — a country
  4. land — ground
  5. land — to come down
  6. wax — to grow
  7. spring — of water
  8. pop — music
  9. wax — in the ear
  10. spring — the season
  11. pop — soda
  12. cap — a lid
  13. ground — a position
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. pop — to visit
  16. ground — crushed
  17. cap — a hat
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. ground — the earth
  21. wax — for sculpting
  22. spring — a coil
  23. prune — to trim
  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