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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 ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  12. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  13. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  14. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  15. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  16. Have you found your soul ________________?
  17. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  18. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  19. He is an ace ________________.
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  24. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. drill — army training
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. staff — a stick
  6. last — to go on
  7. prune — to trim
  8. prune — to trim
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. staff — employees
  12. wax — in the ear
  13. sharp — with an edge
  14. wax — to grow
  15. staff — employees
  16. mate — a partner
  17. sharp — clever
  18. last — final
  19. pitcher — in baseball
  20. drill — a practice
  21. drill — the tool
  22. last — finally
  23. mate — to breed
  24. mate — a friend

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