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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. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  14. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  19. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  20. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  21. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — a penalty
  2. shower — to wash
  3. spring — the season
  4. shower — rain
  5. fine — high quality
  6. prune — to trim
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. march — music
  9. march — the month
  10. march — the month
  11. spring — a coil
  12. spring — of water
  13. fine — all right
  14. object — an aim
  15. hand — in cards
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. object — to protest
  18. prune — to trim
  19. wax — in the ear
  20. object — a thing
  21. wax — to grow
  22. hand — help
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. wax — for sculpting

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