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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. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  3. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  9. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  12. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  13. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  19. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  20. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  21. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  22. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  23. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  24. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. root — of a word
  3. bass — the fish
  4. drill — a practice
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. pass — to succeed
  7. wax — to grow
  8. face — to confront
  9. drill — the tool
  10. prune — to trim
  11. wax — for sculpting
  12. face — to point toward
  13. bass — low music
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. hand — in cards
  16. root — the cause
  17. hand — help
  18. bass — the instrument
  19. pass — to spend time
  20. drill — army training
  21. face — part of the head
  22. pass — a permit
  23. root — of a plant
  24. prune — to trim

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