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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. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  3. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  4. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  11. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  12. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  13. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  14. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  15. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  16. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  17. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  18. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  19. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  20. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  21. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  22. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  23. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  24. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. bass — the instrument
  4. lash — a whip stroke
  5. lash — to lash out
  6. prune — to trim
  7. mate — to breed
  8. prune — to trim
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. bass — the fish
  11. wax — in the ear
  12. mate — a friend
  13. wax — to grow
  14. face — to confront
  15. bass — low music
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. scale — size or range
  18. scale — for weighing
  19. wax — for sculpting
  20. lash — an eyelash
  21. face — part of the head
  22. scale — in music
  23. face — to point toward
  24. racket — a loud noise

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