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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. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. What do you think of the new ________________?
  5. He is an ace ________________.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  10. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  11. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  17. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  18. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  19. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  20. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  21. We're on a ________________ here.
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  24. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. capital — money
  4. cabinet — ministers
  5. pitcher — in baseball
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. wind — moving air
  8. wind — moving air
  9. dip — to dunk
  10. roll — a list
  11. wax — in the ear
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. prune — to trim
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. capital — a city
  16. dip — to sink
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. wax — to grow
  19. cabinet — ministers
  20. roll — a cake
  21. roll — on a roll
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. dip — a sauce
  24. cabinet — a cupboard

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