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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. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  2. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  4. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  12. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. Have you found your soul ________________?
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  17. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  21. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  22. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — the fruit
  2. wax — to grow
  3. jam — in traffic
  4. mate — to breed
  5. prune — to trim
  6. cold — an illness
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. face — to point toward
  9. cold — not warm
  10. kid — to tease
  11. wax — in the ear
  12. jam — a tight spot
  13. prune — to trim
  14. mate — a partner
  15. tear — from crying
  16. jam — to spread on bread
  17. wax — for sculpting
  18. kid — child
  19. tear — to rip
  20. mate — a friend
  21. face — part of the head
  22. face — to confront
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. tear — from crying

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